The Star: July 18, 2019

The Star Thursday July 18 2019
6
TARGET:
Kendal
Food
Centre
was
robbed on
Sunday
night and
a worker
was
taken to
hospital.
NEWS
news online at www.star.kiwi
Woman attacked in dairy robbery
• By Sophie Cornish
A 52-YEAR-OLD woman
working in a diary was punched
and hospitalised after an
aggravated robbery on Sunday.
It was the second time a
worker has been attacked at the
Kendal Food Centre in recent
years.
Three offenders, all dressed in
black and covering their faces,
entered the Burnside store at
about 6pm.
The assault was unprovoked.
They left with tobacco and fled
the scene using a vehicle.
St John spokesman Gerard
Campbell said the victim was
taken to Christchurch Hospital
in a moderate condition.
One of the offenders had an
unidentified weapon during the
robbery, but it wasn’t used to
harm the victim, who received
head injuries.
In August 2016, the store
was robbed in a similar
fashion. Three offenders stormed
the store, armed with a gun and
stole cigarette cartons.
Two of the offenders shoved
the owner, Ning Huang,
who was alone, to the back
storeroom, where one of them
punched him.
At the time, Mr Huang said
he feared for his life during the
incident and thought he was
going to be killed.
They then fled the scene using
a vehicle, police believe.
Detective Sergeant Brad
Grainger said inquiries into
Sunday’s incident are ongoing.
Due to the offenders being
covered and the quality of
CCTV footage, Detective
Sergeant Grainger was unable
to provide a description of the
three suspects.
Mr Huang declined to speak
to The Star about the robbery on
Sunday.
On Monday last week, a
Bromley dairy owner was
hospitalised after a masked
robber, armed with a firearm,
entered the Kidbrooke
Convenience store and assaulted
him.
The owner charged at the
robber, who hit him with a blunt
object in the face. The victim
required 20 stitches.
No one has been charged
in relation to the robbery
and police inquiries are
ongoing.
Election bid for
former disgraced
National candidate
• By Sophie Cornish
A FORMER disgraced National
Party candidate is making
another bid to enter politics.
Businessman John Connelly
will stand for the city council in
October’s local body
elections. He will run
in the Riccarton Ward.
In the run up to the
1996 general election,
Mr Connelly pulled
out of the race for a
Christchurch seat after
allegations of a sexual
relationship with a
teenage girl, which
involved a videotape
and blackmail.
Mr Connelly decided to run
in the local body elections after
current Riccarton Ward city
councillor and former mayor
Vicki Buck announced last
month she will not run again.
“Vicki has been around the
town, a good person over the
years and she was never going to
be beaten and that was all about
it,” he said.
Mr Connelly said he is not
happy with the way the city
council is currently operating.
“People are hurting out here;
ratepayers, residents and business
John Connelly
people . . . I think there is other
ways things could be done,” he
said.
“I think what we need is a few
independent people in there.
People that can take some
middle ground. My campaign
will be on responsible
accountability and I will be
running on those sorts of
issues.
“Back to basics and focus
on normal infrastructure,
road, footpaths, rubbish,
sewers, water, parks and
reserves, sustainable and
environmental issues.
We’re not there to grandstand
. . . I am totally
opposed to five years of 10 per
cent rate increases. I don’t think
it’s practical and a major cost to
householders who are having a
hard time as it is.”
Mr Connelly said yesterday
it will be the first time he has
revisited politics since the general
election scandal.
“I think it is time to move
on and do the next thing.
I have years of experience
in Christchurch. That was
something that happened way
back then. Let’s move on.”
•Candidates motivated by
March 15 attack, pages 8-9
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