The Star: August 15, 2019

The Star Thursday August 15 2019
4
NEWS
Police warn people
not to help
Liam Strickland
•From page 1
Canterbury Acting District
Commander Mike Johnson said
police believe Strickland is being
assisted by others.
“We reiterate that anyone assisting
or harbouring Strickland
should be aware they are committing
an offence punishable
by imprisonment. Strickland is
considered dangerous
and should not be approached,”
he said.
Strickland was
already wanted
after cutting of
his electronicallymonitored
bracelet
while on bail for a
litany of charges. He
is 182cm tall and has
tattoos on his forehead
and right cheek.
A forensic
examination of the stolen white
van linked to the incident was
completed on Monday.
On Tuesday, police closed off
the scene again to re-enact the
incident for evidential purposes.
A death notice for Mr Amies,
who was a father-of-four,
said he was “tragically, and
unexpectedly, taken too soon”
and called him a beloved son
and uncle and loved father and
brother.
Prior to stealing the white van,
Strickland was in a vehicle with
convicted attempted kidnapper,
Marcel Sydney Geros.
Only the week prior, Geros
had escaped a jail sentence for
attempting to kidnap and assault
a jogger in September
last year.
Instead, he was
sentenced to two years
intensive supervision and
released.
Judge Raoul Neave,
who imposed the
sentence, said he
expected public backlash
for freeing Geros.
After being caught up
Mike Johnson in the pursuit last week,
Geros was remanded in
custody but bailed this week by
Judge Neave.
He faced a charge of unlawfully
entering a motor vehicle.
Geros told Judge Neave he had
been with the gang members
because he was trying to give
back his gang patch.
Judge Neave banned him from
all associations with the gang.
news online at www.star.kiwi
‘Anxiety, fear and terror’ since
alleged Brighton hit-and-run
• By Sophie Cornish
THE FLOORING consultant
whose van was involved in the
fatal New Brighton hit-and-run
is having “anxiety, fear and
terror” since the incident.
Dean Amies was killed when
Black Power member Liam
Strickland alledgedly ran him
down while fleeing police.
Mother-of-two, Renee
Elizabeth,
was using the
van while she
was working,
laying carpet at
a property on
Shaw Ave when
she witnessed
Strickland
Renee
Elizabeth
stealing it.
Now Miss
Elizabeth has
a message for Strickland, who
remains on the run since the
incident.
“What you are doing affects
people. Yeah, you got away from
the cops, well done, but I’m now
stuck with anxiety, fear and
terror . . . your actions affect
innocent bystanders who are
just going about their day and
it’s horrible.”
Since the event, Miss
Elizabeth has been continuously
checking the locks at her home,
is fearful when her children
CRIME SCENE: Shaw Ave, New Brighton, where 46-yearold
Dean Amies was killed. PHOTO: SOPHIE CORNISH
play outside and won’t play
loud music at home in fear of
not hearing someone trying to
break in.
Miss Elizabeth heard the
sirens from the pursuit and went
outside to see what was going
on.
She then saw Strickland
getting inside the van, which
had been parked in the driveway
with the keys still in it.
“He didn’t say anything to me
but we made eye contact
. . . once I saw him jump in I just
stood back and thought every
man for himself . . . 30 seconds
after he took off, there was a dog
and a cop in the backyard.”
Miss Elizabeth then watched
Strickland reverse, running
over the tools and carpet in the
driveway and taking out about
1m of fencing and the letterbox.
She didn’t hear the collision,
which happened up the road,
but remembers a woman’s
“blood-curdling” scream.
“The most horrible thing
about the incident was that I
never once saw the brake lights
turn on. That’s one thing I
distinctly remember, no brake
lights,” she said.
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