New Zealand
Dutch tourists robbed at gunpoint
Three Dutch tourists were held at gunpoint and robbed by three men as they slept in their campervan near Akaroa, south of Christchurch, at the weekend.
Detective Sergeant Ross Tarawhiti, of Hornby police, said the robbery happened about 2am on Sunday, about 15 minutes out of Akaroa.
The offenders threw a beer bottle through the front passenger's window.
One of the men then reached into the van, pointed a gun at the tourists, and demanded they get out of the vehicle.
The men searched the vehicle and demanded money from the tourists.
A small amount of cash and electrical items, including laptops and digital cameras, were taken from the tourists, Mr Tarawhiti said.
Shortly after the incident, a dark coloured stationwagon left the area with its lights off.
Mr Tarawhiti said police were seeking any information regarding anyone who was in the area at the time or may have seen a similar vehicle.
Last year two men were jailed for kidnapping and robbing a Dutch honeymoon couple in Northland. The woman was raped.
Keith Anthony McEwen, 30, was sentenced to preventive detention with a 10-year minimum non-parole period and co-offender Christopher Mana Manuel, 27, was jailed for nine years with a minimum of six years.
The men woke the couple as they slept in their campervan at Haruru Falls between Paihia and Kerikeri in November, 2006.
They told the honeymooners they were policemen before holding a shotgun under the husband's chin and demanding money, saying they would rape his wife if he did not comply.
The Dutch tourists were handcuffed and the woman was forced to swallow sedatives and gagged with tape before McEwen sexually attacked her.
The couple's money card was used to withdraw cash before they were dumped in a paddock and found their way to a farm house to raise the alarm.
nzherald.co.nz
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