Holiday period marred by deaths 

A teenager and a 74-year old Warkworth woman died in separate incidents at Omaha and Wenderholm over the New Year period. 

Another woman, aged 30, died following a medical event at Mangawhai Heads.

Joshua Wayne Hartner, 17, of Auckland, was struck by a vehicle on Omaha Drive in the early hours of January 1.

The driver of the vehicle, who was known to Mr Hartner, continues to help police with their enquiries. When Mahurangi Matters checked last week, nobody had been charged in relation to the incident.

Frances Rose Carswell, 74, died after getting into difficulty in the water at Wenderholm Beach on January 4. Emergency services attempted to resuscitate her but to no avail.

Police and St John Ambulance also attempted to revive a woman found at the beach near Mangawhai Heads Road on January 4, but she died at the scene.

Apart from these tragic incidents, Police say the Christmas and New Year period was quieter than had been expected. Warkworth Police Sergeant Mark Stallworthy says they had been expecting a rocky time, but there was largely good behaviour at New Year music festivals and few drunks on the roads.

“We were expecting a ton of problems with people letting their hair down a bit after the restrictions of lockdown,” he says.

Sgt Stallworthy says elsewhere there were low levels of crime and the behaviour at Matakana’s major music festivals – High Life on New Year’s Eve and Hidden Valley on January 2 – was exemplary. Police made no arrest at either festival and there were only low levels of intoxication from drugs and alcohol.

“The rehab zones at those festivals attracted only a few people – mainly those suffering from dehydration and needing a bit of ‘chill-out’ time,” he says.

Sgt Stallworthy says the Christmas/New Year period often sees a spike in reported thefts as people return to bachs and discover, say, a missing outboard motor. However, incidents of this nature were much lower than last year.

Sgt Stallworthy says it’s hard to say what has prompted the downturn in crime, but it may be related to the increased police visibility during the lockdown period, when police were active in enforcing Covid restrictions.

Crime Prevention manager for Rodney Senior Sergeant Rodney Small echoed Sergeant Stallworthy’s comments about good behaviour and low levels of crime in the region. He says a “booze bus” operating in Mangawhai, Matakana and Omaha on New Year’s Eve did find several people with alcohol on their breath, but only two that were over the limit and were subsequently prosecuted.

“We were absolutely delighted with the low level of drunk drivers following a 10-hour shift. It was really good to see,” he says.

Sgt Small says traffic congestion was predictably bad at times and similar to last year but could have been a lot worse if Covid checkpoints had still been in place.

He says congestion should be considerably less next year following the completion of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway.