John Burn intervened when he saw three teenagers acting suspiciously by new buildings at Gilberthorpe School in Hei Hei last Thursday.
When he asked them to leave, one scoffed: "We’re under age, we can do whatever we (expletive) like so (expletive) off."
To emphasise their belligerence, one of the youths threw a pail of paint over the ceiling of a deck.
"Normally when you tell people to ‘bugger off’ they disappear because I’ll call the police. I didn’t have a chance to do that, I could see they were spoiling for a fight," Burn said.
One of the teenagers swung a scooter at head height before it flew into the contractor’s face.
As Burn was scrambling to find his feet, another boy used a skateboard to crack the dazed 60-odd-year-old on the back of the head.
Fortunately a cleaner appeared to stop the assault, and the trio of 13 to 14-year-olds fled, leaving Burn with an 8cm gash on his scalp, bruising and concussion.
He was in hospital for six hours before a CT scan cleared him of serious injury.
The wound was “glued” up and although the damage will heal, there could be psychological scarring to contend with a week on from the incident.
"I’m a bit more wary, not so gung-ho. I’m close to retirement, this might spur me on a bit, I don’t know,” said Burn, who tends to about 50 school grounds around Christchurch for the Ministry of Education.
"I’m still a bit fatigued, I’ve still got really bad headaches, that’s the concussion."
Gilberthorpe School principal Andrew Wilkinson described the attack as “cowardly."
"We will work tirelessly to identify the individuals responsible so that they can be held accountable for their actions," he said.
"We don’t have (security) cameras unfortunately, we simply haven’t needed them but we’ll have to review that in light of this. They may well have helped in this instance."
While Cantabrians worked from home - or not at all - after the Delta variant was detected, it was business as usual for police as criminal activity proved immune to the Covid restrictions.
"Anecdotally police have seen an increase in calls for service for family harm, Covid-19 breaches and mental health," a spokesperson said.
"They have seen a decrease in calls for service for burglary, theft and vehicle crashes."
But Burn is among the victims of unsolved crimes committed during the alert level 4, then 3, lockdown in the city.
A dairy owner in Bishopdale is also recovering from the trauma of being robbed at knife-point by two youths who exited the Roll On In Dairy Sawyers Arms Rd with a cash register on August 22.
The offenders were aged 15 to 20, with Covid-19 masks helping disguise their identities.
Police are also still searching for two people who broke into the Bishop Brothers Public House on Farrington Ave, Bishopdale, on August 27.
They only needed three minutes to cause $7500 in damage before they left with six bottles of Jim Beam.
- A 29-year-old man was arrested in relation to the fatal crash in Marshland which claimed the life of Christchurch woman Rachael Harris. Harris, 62, was heading home after helping an elderly friend during lockdown when the crash happened at the intersection of Marshland and Mairehau Rds on August 23. The man allegedly fled the scene before emergency services arrived, but he was arrested three days later and charged with dangerous driving causing death.
- A man was critically injured when the car he was driving crashed on Lincoln Rd on August 26 after being asked to stop by police in Addington. CCTV footage indicated the vehicle was speeding and on the wrong side of the road before the driver allegedly ran a red light and collided with another car. The man, understood to be a member of the Tribesmen gang, was freed from the wreckage by firefighters before being taken to hospital. The Mazda Alexa he was driving was linked to a firearms incident in Burwood on August 23.
- Two 14-year-old girls were taken into custody after an early morning crime spree in Christchurch that extended out to Rolleston on August 31. Police said the pair stole two vehicles in the city before an attempted burglary in Rolleston.
- A 33-year-old man was arrested and a teenage boy was referred to youth aid after allegedly forcing their way into a New Brighton house and robbing the occupant at gunpoint on August 30. The man was charged with aggravated robbery and appeared in the district court on last Thursday, where he was remanded in custody ahead of another appearance on September 20.
- A police dog is recovering on antibiotics after being attacked by a dog during a call-out at the Ferry Motel in Phillipstown on August 31. Officers used pepper spray and a taser unsuccessfully in a bid to subdue the aggressive dog before it was shot. A man was arrested after he allegedly slashed a vehicle’s tyre with a knife.
