From the Dom Post:

Second foreigner bashed in Wellington
02 May 2006
By LANE NICHOLS

A German exchange student has been viciously robbed and attacked with a hammer by three armed men in the second unprovoked assault on foreigners in Wellington in a fortnight.

The Upper Hutt College student, 18, suffered a broken eye socket, swelling, and a cut head in the bashing, at 2am on Sunday in Ferguson Drive.

The three attackers – armed with the hammer, a crowbar and imitation pistol – stole the student’s cellphone before he escaped on foot, police said.

Meanwhile, Canadian tourist Jeremie Kawerninski, 25, says he is suffering flashbacks and wakes flailing in his bed at night after being set upon by up to four men on April 18 in a Lower Hutt house and robbed of $40.

Recovering from his injuries yesterday, a tired and sore Mr Kawerninski told The Dominion Post he thought his attackers planned to kill him when they beat him, covered his head with a pillowcase, tied it around his neck, dragged him into a car and bound his feet with his own belt.

He was later dumped battered, bloodied and half-naked beside a Naenae road.

“I was thinking, `These pricks are going to kill me for 40 bucks.’

“They started throwing me around. I hit the ground then they started kicking me and stomping on me.

“I just covered my head because I didn’t want head injuries. I just gave up. I thought, `That’s it, man.’ That’s all I could do. I just let them do what they wanted. There was no stopping them. I was their punching bag.”

Mr Kawerninski arrived in New Zealand in January and had planned to travel around the country for a year. Because of his experience, he now plans to return home next month.

He said he was befriended by one of his attackers in Courtenay Place, in Wellington. After drinking beer at several bars with the man and some associates, he was offered a place to stay. The men drove him to a house in Lower Hutt.

“It was dirty, man . . . It reminded me of a crack house like you’d see back home. I was like `What am I doing here?’ I was thinking it might have been a mistake.”

Mr Kawerninski said he went to sleep in a bedroom but was woken when the men entered the room, demanded money and attacked him.

He suffered a fractured nose, broken ribs, collapsed lung and severe bruising and was hospitalised for 10 days.

Jaydon Russell Borland, 30, of Taranaki, appeared briefly in Lower Hutt District Court yesterday charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.

Borland – sporting a shaved head and scalp tattoo – was remanded in custody for a week. He shouted “f. . .ing pigs” as he was led away to the cells.

Another man, aged 19 and from Wainuiomata, was arrested yesterday in relation to the beating. He is expected to face similar charges when he appears in Lower Hutt District Court today. Police expect further arrests.

Mr Kawerninski, a native American Indian, said he had been inundated with messages of support and offers of help from the New Zealand public.

“I love New Zealand, I really do. I love New Zealanders.

“I don’t think badly of the country at all. I just met the four dumbest guys, I guess.

“Us natives are tough, man. You can beat us all you want, we’ll still get up and walk away.”

The German student attacked early on Sunday said his left eye had nearly swollen shut and blood had dripped from his nose. He was returning from a school party when he was hit with the hammer without warning from behind.

His attackers forced him into an alley and demanded his wallet and cellphone. When the student asked them to return the phone he was struck in the face with the hammer.

“I was lucky that I didn’t lose consciousness or go down, or I don’t know what would have happened. I just had so much adrenaline I felt nothing like pain.

“It’s unfortunate and sad that they have to do something like this, but I know that not all Kiwis are like them.”

He planned to see out his seven-month exchange, which began in January.

Positively Wellington Tourism marketing manager Chris Lamers said violent attacks on tourists or foreigners had the potential to damage Wellington’s international reputation.