Staff gather for the reopening of Pooja Jewellers store in Papatoetoe, after a devastating robbery in which owner Gurdeep Singh (back centre right) was badly injured. Photo: RNZ/ Finn Blackwell
An Auckland jewellery store has reopened, after an attack that left its owner hospitalised.
Gurdeep Singh was hit in the head with a hammer during a robbery at his store, Pooja Jewellers, in Papatoetoe, in June.
He reopened the shop on Sunday, but said what happened during the attack keeps coming back to him.
"I'm just trying to forget and move on," Singh said.
"But it's happened to me and my family in this very shop, it's very hard for me to just block that."
Singh was hit in the head by a group of offenders, while the rest of his family huddled at the back of the store.
The group fled the scene after Singh's son chased them away with a sword.
Police interviewing people outside the store after the robbery on 23 June. Photo: Supplied/Sunny Kaushal
At his store's reopening, Singh said he was recovering well after the attack.
"Physically, I'm much better - feeling good," he said.
"I still have a headache on my right side, and feeling sort of heavier on right side where the hammer hit was...
"I'm getting better every day."
But, he said the incident had left him feeling unsafe.
"When I'm walking up and down the road, I look at the front, look at the back, and I just make sure that nobody's following me, nobody's up there who's going to punch me ...
"This is not the environment that I want me or my family to be [living] in."
Police arrested five people in relation to the violent robbery, including a 16-year-old male who was charged with aggravated robbery.
Singh said there needed to be tools for authorities to target offenders behind the scenes, not just perpetrators.
"I always have a question, first up - where it goes?" he asked. "There's somebody out there buying it...
"We need to change laws, we need to have some kind of mechanism, some kind of tool to dig deeper and find out what's happening."
Staff once again welcomed customers into the Papatoetoe store on 14 July, three weeks after the attack took place. Photo: RNZ/ Finn Blackwell
Singh said retailers would end up taking the law into their own hands if they weren't supported when dealing with retail crime.
"Nobody should have to pick up a sword, or knife, or bat, or anything like that to protect your own family, it shouldn't happen in the very first place,
"But if the government can't do anything, people will take law in their own hand. And people, you know, they fight for it."
Staff back behind the displays, after the doors reopened at the store on Sunday. Photo: RNZ/ Finn Blackwell
Attending the reopening was Minister for Ethnic Communities Melissa Lee, who said the family had been deeply impacted by the robbery.
"When the incident happened, for the family, it was devastating for them," she said.
"I think this turn out is a support network that is actually around the community coming out, wanting to support the family, so that they can actually get back into business."
Lee said the government was doing a good thing with its tough stance on law and order, and its boot camp scheme.
She said boot camps, due to start at the end of July, would aim to teach repeat offenders responsibility.
"When you look at the number of repeat offenders amongst our young people, I think you can actually count that there's a small group of people who actually offend and reoffend, constantly," said Lee.
"When you have these serial offenders taken to potentially go to these boot camps where they can be taught their responsibilities as citizens - their responsibility as human beings, to not reoffend - to actually realise the impact their offending has had on people, is actually a good thing.
"Hopefully that helps them not to offend again."
Community support worker Marshal Walia was also at the reopening, and said he wanted to see to see tougher penalties imposed on offenders from judges.
"The judges are not giving the harsh penalties," he said.
"If they can pick up a hammer, then why can't they go into a jail?"
He said the discipline taught in boot camps would make a difference.
"When you go through the discipline, and when you know you have to get up at a certain time, and you have to do a certain task, those are the small things which will make a big difference in peoples lives."
