{"id":324754,"date":"2026-03-11T20:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/324754\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T20:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:49:10","slug":"katikati-fatal-dog-attack-grandmother-of-victim-backs-accused-dog-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/324754\/","title":{"rendered":"Katikati fatal dog attack: Grandmother of victim backs accused dog owner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTimothy\u2019s family have been notified of this outcome. Our thoughts remain with them, and we continue to offer them the necessary support,\u201d Flowerdew\u2011Brown said.<\/p>\n

The development came the day before what would have been Timoti\u2019s 5th birthday.<\/p>\n

Timoti\u2019s grandmother and guardian Amy Rolleston told the Bay of Plenty Times she first heard of the charge when the accused woman phoned her at 11.50am on Monday.<\/p>\n

She said Flowerdew-Brown called about an hour later.<\/p>\n

Rolleston said she believed she should have been told at the same time as the dog owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really upsetting to be told she has been charged, especially the day before what would have been my grandson\u2019s fifth birthday.<\/p>\n

\"AmyAmy Rolleston, the grandmother of 4-year-old Timothy Tu\u2019uaki Rolleston-Bryan, killed in a dog attack in Katikati on March 28, 2025. Photo \/ Ben Dickens<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had told the police we did not want the dogs\u2019 owner charged.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she also told Flowerdew-Brown she intended to stand up in court in support of the woman.<\/p>\n

Rolleston said the tragedy already weighed heavily on them and everyone else involved.<\/p>\n

She said the news of the charge left her and her husband \u201creeling\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI broke down [on Monday] when I was told, and [on Tuesday] we planned to have a little party with Timoti\u2019s cousins, but we cancelled it because everyone is too upset and not in the mood for a party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like we are all being made to relive what happened that day \u2013 the healing process has barely begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rolleston said she wanted the court appearance moved to the Tauranga District Court so both families and their supporters could attend.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Bay of Plenty Police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

NZME asked police to respond to Rolleston\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, Western Bay of Plenty Police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said, when making charging decisions, police considered the prosecutorial guidelines, ensuring they had sufficient evidence.<\/p>\n

They also looked at \u201cwhether a prosecution is in the public interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paxton said police must take the privacy of all persons into account when advising that a prosecution will take place.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the matter is before the courts, police are unable to comment further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flowerdew-Brown told the Bay of Plenty Times last week that police had received new information about the case in January and at that stage had yet to decide if they would prosecute.<\/p>\n

The charge<\/p>\n

The charge has been laid under Section 58 of the Dog Control Act 1996. It can apply to the owner of any dog that attacks any person and causes serious injury.The maximum penalty is three years imprisonment or a fine of up to $20,000.<\/p>\n

Sandra Conchie<\/a> is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional\/community reporter of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTimothy\u2019s family have been notified of this outcome. Our thoughts remain with them, and we continue to offer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[47179,1117,89,32319,1349,9219,11784,14322,140228,87327,3375,111,43,139,69,1118,2738,3178,4056,312,14446,1886,1361,1337,1533],"class_list":["post-324754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-4yearold","tag-accused","tag-attack","tag-backs","tag-court","tag-dog","tag-fatal","tag-grandmother","tag-grandson","tag-katikati","tag-killed","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-owner","tag-owning","tag-person","tag-says","tag-stand","tag-support","tag-that","tag-victim","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}