QUEEN Street Dairy in Te Kūiti was closed for two hours on Monday afternoon while employees, including Aman Grewal and Nilesh Patel, participated in a national protest following the murder of an Auckland dairy employee.
AS swarms of people gathered in Auckland to protest after the death of slain Auckland dairy worker Janak Patel, people in Te Kūiti joined the call to action. Employees and owners of dairies nationally were involved in the protest on Monday afternoon “in solidarity with those killed, injured and all victims of crime.” Aman Grewal, of Queen St Dairy in Te Kūiti, said she and others who worked at the dairy were joining the protest because they were concerned about safety. “It’s all about safety. It could happen to us,” she said. “We want protection to stop this violence.”
FATALLY STABBED Janak Patel was fatally stabbed on the street after The Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham, Auckland was robbed at about 8pm on November 23. Police detective inspector Scott Beard said enquiries had established that after the robbery the offender left the store with the cash register drawer and walked about 100m down the road. He was seen on CCTV footage stopping at a household wheelie bin and placing the drawer inside. Janak approached the offender and an altercation took place, resulting in Janak receiving several fatal stab wounds. He managed to make his way back to the dairy where emergency services were called and first aid was administered, police said. It is believed the offender left with the wheelie bin and continued walking in the direction he was travelling before Janak approached him. Police have arrested a 34-year-old man and charged him with both Janak’s murder and aggravated robbery.
MEN CHARGED A 42-year-old man was also charged with robbery in relation to the incident. Two days after the original arrests, police announced a 36-year-old man had also been charged with robbery. Aman said she first saw the news of Janak’s death on facebook. “We’re feeling for his family. He was very young,” she said. She has feared for her own safety before. “I was [feeling scared for my safety] about two or three months ago when there was a break in.” Where there was once a window is now a wooden board.
“ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN” “Anything can happen at any time.” Although the protest was happening during what would usually be a busy time at the dairy, from 12.30pm–2.30pm on Monday afternoon, business wasn’t more important than safety, Aman said. She wanted to see the Government take action to protect people working in small businesses across the country. “There should be strict action against this behaviour so small businesses can run without issues. “People want to close their shops instead of running in these conditions.” After the Government’s cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Adern announced three measures designed to tackle retail crime and support businesses. The first was a $4 million fund to support local council crime protection programmes.
CRIME PREVENTION It was already allocated with $2 million going to Auckland, $1 million to Hamilton and $1 million to be spread across the Bay of Plenty. The Government decided to expand the $6 million retail crime prevention fund criteria to include businesses that had been the victim of an aggravated robbery in the past 12 months. All small businesses and dairies are now eligible for a $4000 subsidy towards the installation of fog cannons bought from an authorised supplier list. Businesses do not need to have been the victim of a crime to receive the subsidy, the Prime Minister said. “We don’t want to wait for businesses who feel vulnerable to have a crime committed before they can install what is the best preventative measure we have.”
