Five teenagers were brutally attacked in an alleyway while walking in east Auckland in the early hours of Sunday, with one of the victims' injuries so severe he ended up in a coma.
All five of the victims were hospitalised after the assault, which happened at the Casuarina Rd Reserve in the suburb of Half Moon Bay between 3 and 3:30am on Sunday.
The person who was put in a coma, 18-year-old Aaron, remains in the hospital with a fractured skull, his mum told Newshub. He remained in a coma for about a day following the attack.
And Aaron's mother has slammed the police's handling of the attack and is demanding justice for her son and his friends who were assaulted.
"They were crossing through an alleyway to go to one of the boy's houses and as they got into the alleyway, they saw a group… at the other end - there were about 20 of them," Aaron's mother said. "Then, about four boys walked past them and blocked the entrance that they'd just entered."
She said that's when the attack started.
"The rest of the group descended on them… starting pushing them and punching them; one of the boys was knocked out with a stick and was just beaten. Another big boy started attacking my son… and another boy came behind with a massive stick and hit him on the back of his head with the stick which cracked his skull.
"He started collapsing - he doesn't remember much after this other than he was fighting for his life.
"Then he was rushed by about 10 other boys who punched him and kicked him and rolled him into the bushes and as he was lying in a creek, they continued punching and kicking him until he was unconscious."
She said that's when Aaron's girlfriend jumped on one of the attackers and bit him, "which probably saved his life".
After the attackers left the scene, Aaron's friends were able to bring him conscious again - but he was delirious and couldn't walk straight. They were able to take him to Middlemore Hospital.
Aaron's friends were able to identify his attackers through other witnesses at the scene horrified by what had taken place, his mother said. That's when the issues with the police began.
She said despite victims giving statements on Sunday and the identities of some of the alleged attackers being handed over, no action had been taken when she phoned on Monday.
"I said to the police officer, 'That's not good enough… we've emailed you all the evidence, we've got the witnesses' names.'"
The next day, some officers arrived at Middlemore Hospital to get a statement from a now-awake Aaron.
Hoping now some progress had been made, his mother made contact with the police later that day - only to be told another officer had since taken over the case. She was told the new officer would get in contact but no one called.
Frustrated, she contacted media outlets on Wednesday.
"Suddenly, I heard from the police 20 minutes later," Aaron's mother said. "This is absolute negligence.
"The police have done nothing to make sure that these guys are actually held accountable to make [my son] feel safe.
"[The police] actually need to act on this… it's unacceptable when parents have just sat there holding their son's hand while he's in a coma for 24 hours.
"It's not acceptable to not ensure that the victim is safe and that the attackers are caught, and I want the attackers to know that I am not going to stop until every single one of them is caught."
Devastated by the incident, Aaron's mother said she'd even considered moving her family out of Auckland.
"I have been, this whole time thinking, is it an option for me to pack up my business and take him somewhere else? But why do we have to run, why can't the police do their job?"
Counties Manukau East area investigations manager Det Snr Sgt James Gemmell said an investigation into the incident was ongoing. Police did not directly respond to Newshub's questions about Aaron's mum's frustrations.
"The investigation remains ongoing and police are following positive lines of enquiry to locate and speak to those involved," Gemmell said. "The victim who received serious injuries remains in hospital in a stable condition.
"Anyone who has information about this incident is urged to contact police on 105, quoting file number 220327/7305 or ring Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
