July 17, 2014
Cool heads needed after slaying
Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell is calling for cool heads to prevail so the Opotiki community can recover after the weekend’s slaying.
Tensions are high in the eastern Bay of Plenty town after a 34-year-old man was charged with the murder of 22-year-old Joe Collier on Saturday night.
Mr Flavell says it appears to have originally been a domestic dispute that escalated, but it has been played up as a gang confrontation.
He says that’s not helpful, as it just keeps the cycle going.
"We haven't heard too much about gangs for some time because there has been some good work done by some to try to bring the gangs together. I know that in places like Ngati Tuwharetoa, Murupara, across into the Bay of Plenty that these things arise but they are never helped by the loss of a life and the picture painted around gangs," Mr Flavell says.
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