15 FEBRUARY 2005

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 37

THE NEW ZEALAND BRAVERY MEDAL (N.Z.B.M.)

Patrick Martin John BURKE

Detective, New Zealand Police (retired)
Citation

On 31 August 1999, Detective Burke was on patrol by himself in an unmarked Police car when he was advised that a man had shot and wounded a woman at a nearby address in Stoke. The woman had recently taken out a temporary protection order against the offender. The offender had left the address, hi-jacked a car causing injury to the driver, and driven off. Shortly afterwards, Detective Burke noticed the offender pass him going in the opposite direction. He turned his vehicle around and chased the offender’s car, with his siren and red and blue lights activated. The man continued into an industrial site where he stopped suddenly, opened his door and emerged carrying a shotgun. Detective Burke, who was unarmed, stopped his car only four metres away from the offender, opened his door, stood up and called three times for the man to drop his firearm. The man then placed the muzzle of the gun in his mouth and fired the weapon, severely wounding himself. He was later convicted of the attempted murder of the woman.

Matthew John HOLLIS

Citation

At about 4.00 a.m. on 26 November 1999, Mr Hollis was at a party when a female friend alerted the partygoers to a fire in a house across the road. Mr Hollis and some friends ran across the road and soon realised that the garden hose would be of no help in dousing the flames as the fire had too great a hold. Two friends of Mr Hollis forced a door open and Mr Hollis crawled into the house, followed by another man. By this time the windows in the house were starting to explode, but Mr Hollis was able to hear the screams of the children trapped inside. He buried his head in his jersey to try and protect himself from the smoke and went about finding the trapped children. He managed to find six of them, throwing them out of a window to another man who caught them on the outside of the house. Mr Hollis then left the house, but when told another child was still inside, re-entered the building to rescue it. He went back into the building twice more before the children’s mother advised him that all her children were safe.

Hamish Everett NEAL (deceased)

Citation

On 10 February 2000, Mr Hamish Neal, aged 15 years, was on a school trip to the Waihao River. While swimming in the river at a point known as the “Black Hole”, a fellow student got into trouble and sank beneath the surface. Mr Neal swam over to him and attempted to pull him to safety. Mr Neal was unsuccessful in the attempt and was instead pulled down with him and both students drowned. Both students were members of a special class for children with varying degrees of learning and behavioural difficulty at Waimate High School.

Roger Terry BLUMHARDT

Brendan John DOBBYN

Kevin Albert SINGER

Citation

On the night of 25 September 2000, Mr Blumhardt, Mr Dobbyn and Mr Singer were the members of a Search and Rescue Team that went out in response to Mr Brian Pickering’s 111 distress call. Mr Pickering had gone to the aid of Mr John Painting and his son Matthew, who had got into difficulties at an altitude of 5,000 feet in the Kaimanawa Range during what has been described as a “50 year storm”. The three men left Turangi at 11.00 p.m. in pitch darkness and at the height of the storm. Progress was slow; taking 2½ hours to cover one kilometre. At times they crawled on their hands and knees in wind-chill conditions at times in excess of –30°C. They declined suggestions from Search and Rescue staff to turn back believing that they may be the only hope for Mr Pickering, Mr Painting and his son. Eventually, however, they were forced by the conditions to cease their rescue attempt and seek shelter.

Mark Charles SMITH

Citation

On 13 July 2001, Mr Smith was travelling to Christchurch on State Highway No. 73 near Kirwee, when the vehicle in front, driven by a woman, hit a patch of ice and collided with a fully laden concrete truck. The truck crushed the car and the woman was trapped inside it under the truck, with flames beginning to spread along the underside of the wreckage. Mr Smith immediately stopped his car and went to her aid. After some considerable difficulty, he was able to force open the door of the woman’s car and free her from her seat belt. All the time flames were licking around them. The driver of the concrete truck then managed to back his vehicle off the wreckage of the car at which time its petrol tank exploded and the vehicle was incinerated.

Paul Lindsay CHANDLER

Citation

On 1 October 2001, a dangerous bank robber entered a bank in Akaroa wearing a balaclava and armed with a rifle. He pointed the gun at the two tellers and demanded the contents of the tills. As he was leaving, he passed a customer entering the bank, who raised the alarm. At this, the robber ran away. Mr Chandler observed the robber running from the bank carrying a gun, and decided to chase him. He was soon joined in his pursuit by Mr Peter Duncan and Mr Graham Jones and the three men pursued the robber down an alleyway. Realising he was being chased, the robber stopped and pointed the firearm at them. He then turned and continued to run. The three men also continued their pursuit. The robber then got into a stolen vehicle. Mr Chandler caught up to it and broke the passenger’s side window in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent it from leaving the area. The assistance of Mr Chandler and the two other men and the information they gave the Police resulted in the subsequent apprehension and conviction of three men.

Peter James DUNCAN

Citation

On 1 October 2001, a dangerous bank robber entered a bank in Akaroa wearing a balaclava and armed with a rifle. He pointed the gun at the two tellers and demanded the contents of the tills. As he was leaving, he passed a customer entering the bank who, seeing what had happened, raised the alarm. At this, the robber ran away. Mr Duncan was nearby and observed the robber carrying a gun and being chased by Mr Paul Chandler and decided to assist. The two men were then joined by Mr Graham Jones and all three pursued the robber down an alleyway. Realising he was being chased, the robber stopped and pointed the firearm at them. He then turned around and continued to run. The three men also continued their pursuit. The robber then got into a stolen vehicle. Mr Duncan caught up with it and tried to open the driver’s door, but was unsuccessful. He recorded the registration number, which was later given to Police. The assistance of Mr Duncan and the two other men and the information they gave the Police resulted in the subsequent apprehension and conviction of three men.

Graham John Watkin JONES

Citation

On 1 October 2001, a dangerous bank robber entered a bank in Akaroa wearing a balaclava and armed with a rifle. He pointed the gun at the two tellers and was given the contents of the tills. As he was leaving, he passed a customer entering