‘Too risky to walk at night now’

Queen St residents anonymously shared their concerns regarding suspicious men in the area. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY/ODT GRAPHIC

This story contains content some readers may find disturbing.

Students living in an area notorious for night lurkers are afraid to walk alone there after another bizarre incident.

The University of Otago has now confirmed two new CCTV cameras will be installed in the Queen St/Cosy Dell Rd area — answering calls by residents for safety upgrades.

The shady streets, packed with student housing and bushy nooks, are well-known hot spots for prowlers, but despite increasing patrols there, police said it was not a "problem area".

Two tenants told the Otago Daily Times there were whispers of a "new Queen St Creeper", but such horror stories had become commonplace.

Last week in the Dunedin District Court Wayne Karl Webb, 57, was given a 12-month deferred sentence after admitting two charges of unlawfully being in a yard.

The court heard he had exposed himself while urinating on two Queen St properties, and originally faced charges of doing an indecent act.

He knocked on one door loudly. Occupants of the property saw Webb with his pants around his knees, holding his genitals in both hands and urinating.

Counsel Meg Scally said there was a medical reason for Webb’s sudden urge to urinate, however, he appreciated he had given the occupants "a fright".

Judge David Robinson noted the area had sometimes attracted unwelcome visitors.

"There are other incidents of properties in that area being targeted by people with more concerning motives," he said.

Queen St residents agreed.

They said there had been a string of alarming episodes in the neighbourhood, leaving them too scared to walk home at night.

One woman said a friend on the street had warned them after she was followed home and she herself had also noticed "dodgy-looking people" who were acting suspiciously.

"It’s just too risky to walk at night now," she said.

Her flatmate reported an increase in eerie occurrences in the neighbourhood since the middle of last semester and thought the girls-only flats were being targeted.

The first woman said it was "not fair".

"In terms of safety, I didn’t see this coming moving into this flat. I didn’t really factor that in," she told the ODT.

"We should be able to walk around and feel safe and it’s just a bit s... that we don’t."

They often heard loud noises at night, knew of a recent break-in on the street and earlier in the year had their gas bottles stolen.

The flat was considering installing cameras and would not be living in the area again next year.

Down the road, it was a similar story.

Members of a flat where Webb had exposed himself were in a group chat with residents of the nearby Cosy Dell Rd, who warned each other of local creepers.

CCTV stills of men lurking in the area at night had been shared — one dubbed "puffer-jacket man" by a resident.

They had installed their own cameras, but wanted more CCTV in the area and improved lighting.

"We definitely lock the door ... every time now," one woman said.

The student population, dark streets and lack of cameras could be the reason the area was targeted, they said.

"Maybe also the reputation from other previous things, because for a few years now, there’s been, quote-unquote, the Cosy Dell Creeper and things like that," one resident said.

Police had increased patrols in the "location of interest", and were encouraging students to look after one another, Sergeant Matt Lee said.

"It’s not a problem area; we’re trying to actually stop it becoming a problem area," Sgt Lee said.

"I suppose people have kind of targeted that area in the past and we don’t 100% know why, but we have done stuff with landlords and occupants ... trying to work everything out."

University of Otago Proctor Dave Scott said last month his office hosted a meeting with police, landlords in the area and the Dunedin City Council to "collaborate on practical steps to enhance safety in the area".

As a result, the council was asked to do a "streetlight audit" and consider trimming foliage.

The university had put up further signs to highlight the use of CCTV.

Manager of Tenancy Practice and Stewardship at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Paul Coggan suggested landlords should consider additional security lighting if it improved tenants’ safety.

Eerie area

Apr 2024: A 21-year-old known as "the Cosy Dell Creeper" is caught on CCTV prowling around the outside of a flat; steals underwear from George St homes. The man is later discharged without conviction and granted permanent name suppression

Aug 2024: Warren Gray, 62, is captured on CCTV swiping underwear from a Heriot Row student unit. Police later find hundreds of pairs of stolen undies at his home. In 2018, Gray talked his way into a Duke St residence claiming to be a curtain inspector.

• Nicholas Kerr, 36, is found unlawfully in a Queen St property. The crime was just metres from other homes he had burgled five years earlier. In 2021, he was jailed for more than three years for breaking into 12 houses, stealing items and cutting holes in curtains.

Feb 2025: A 36-year-old man breaks into a Cosy Dell Rd flat and sexually violates a female resident.