The Star: March 03, 2022

The Star Thursday March 3 2022
ARA INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY
Dream finally realised
with career change
Not so long ago, Saulo Faafoe was
working two jobs – as a taxi driver and
benchtop installer – but he was a long way
from his dream career.
“I always felt a pull to construction,” he
says. At school in Samoa, Saulo particularly
enjoyed woodwork and any classes that
involved making things. He also loved
working with family and friends on building
projects.
Saulo knew he needed to get proper skills
and training in order to get into his dream
career, but financial constraints always
seemed to be an obstacle.
“I was earning barely enough to
support my young family,” he says. So
when he found out about Ara Institute of
Canterbury’s free Pacific Trades Training
options, he took the bull by the horns and
enrolled in a Certificate in Carpentry.
Fast forward and Saulo is now a qualified
carpenter working at Hi Spec Homes in
Christchurch. “Getting work straight away
was an absolute highlight,” he says. “The
practical skills I learned made transitioning
into work easy and I felt more than capable
on my first day in the job.”
Saulo encourages anyone considering
changing career to make that leap of faith.
“Study has a big impact on your life. The
skills I’ve learned, and the knowledge and
experience I’ve gained, have contributed
greatly to my family and the wider
community.”
To those who maybe think it’s too late
to change careers, Saulo has this to say:
“Follow your passion because age doesn’t
matter in the world of studies. No matter
how busy life is or how tough it might get, if
there’s a will there’s a way.”
Ara Institute of Canterbury offers more
than 150 career-focused study options
ranging from certificates and diplomas to
degrees and postgraduate qualifications.
Ara offers a wide range of subject
areas including art and design, health,
IT, business, food and hospitality, trades,
engineering and more.
Places are still available for study
options starting at Ara now and
applications are open for courses starting
mid-year. For more details visit ara.ac.nz
or call 0800 24 24 76.
12
NEWS
Owners of dog
that mauled bail
officer appear
in district court
• By David Clarkson
THE DRAMATIC sounds of two dogs
savaging a security officer making
an electronic monitored bail visit in
Christchurch were recorded on his phone
and played in court.
“I didn’t think I was going to get out of
there,” said experienced security guard
Jason Warden as he gave evidence in the
judge-alone trial before district court
Judge Quentin Hix.
Warden was left with injuries to his face,
arms and thigh, and needed a night in
hospital after the July 16, 2020 dog
attack.
The recording was played at the trial
of Genisis Pure and Kathleen Pure, on
charges of being the owners of the dogs
involved in an attack - Naahni and Boss.
Hix asked before the trial began about
whether there could be resolution, but
defence counsel Richard Peters and Kiran
Paima said it had to go ahead because
the issue involved was whether the dogs
would be destroyed.
City council prosecutor Penny Brown
said destruction of the dogs followed
conviction on these charges, unless there
were exceptional circumstances. “And this
is not an exceptional case,” she said.
Warden told the court he was sent to the
Redwood address through First Security,
on instructions from the Department of
Corrections. He had been there a few days
before, and knew there was a dog present,
but it had previously been kept at the back
of the house.
When he arrived, he called his office
and then spoke through a headset
throughout the visit while the phone
transmitted from his pocket.
He found the house in darkness, he
rattled the gate and whistled, and heard
a dog barking – recorded on his phone
– but he was adamant that was a dog at
another property.
When he went to the front sliding door,
two dogs attacked, biting his thigh and
arm, scratching or biting his face and
smashing his glasses off. The recording
continued as he struggled and kicked, and
yelled at the attacking dogs as he made his
way back out the gate. He had to
have stitches and spent the night in
hospital.
“I could not sleep for quite a while – I
had a lot of nightmares. The injuries
mended, but I have a scar on my nose. It
may have improved my looks,” he said.
It was very dark in the yard, but he was
sure there had been two dogs attacking
him. “One’s attached to my leg, and the
other’s attached to my arm. There’s two
dogs.”
The court heard evidence of the officer
being sent incorrectly to the address at the
request of the Department of Corrections,
because the “subject” of the visit was in
Auckland where he had already had a
monitoring anklet fitted the previous day.
The trial was told that the dogs had
already been classified as dangerous after
an attack on a police officer in December
2019.
Kathleen Pure gave a statement saying
that there was a gate separating the back
from the front of the property. It was
secured by a boulder and a nail, but the
dog Boss was able to open it to get to a
bowl of cat food on the front deck.
She said: “I love my dogs. I have had
them for eight years. I just don’t want to
lose them. I take full responsibility for
what happened.”
In evidence, she said that Boss had been
able to get through a previous gate, which
was replaced. Until the incident, she did
not believe the dogs could get through the
new gate to the front of the property.
Following hearing legal arguments, Hix
reserved his decision and said he would
deliver it on Friday.
• Clarkson is an Open Justice journalist
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