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By Adam Burns of RNZ

A Hamilton bookstore owner is fed up with the “disrespectful” actions of a serial book vandal who, she says, is targeting the biographies of high-profile New Zealand women.

Nichola Carter, who owns Pennys Bookstore in the Chartwell Shopping Centre, said the unnamed man has deliberately ripped the covers off books during three visits to the store.

The book-tearing campaign began six weeks ago when the man first visited, making a beeline for the sports section.

“He picked up books and put them down and picked up books again and put them down again, and then he walked out,” Carter said.

A staff member then spotted a copy of Straight Up, the biography of Black Ferns star Ruby Tui, had been ripped and returned to the shelf with the back facing.

Two copies of rugby league commentator Honey Hireme-Smiler‘s biography were also damaged in the same way during a later visit.

“We knew then that someone was doing this on purpose and we did think ‘Okay, does this person have an issue with women?’,” Carter said.

On Friday, a copy of Full Circle by TV presenter Jenny-May Clarkson was also found “ripped and hidden, face-down” on one of the store’s display stands.

“I was thinking ‘why is this happening to these three particular women?’,” she said.

Carter then discovered that the same thing, involving the same three books, had also occurred at a bookstore 25 minutes out of Hamilton.

“What got me ... is the disrespect. No respect for our store, no respect for these women, and just purposefully doing it,” she said. “We’re an independent bookstore, we’ve been here for 44 years and we’ve actually never had anything like this happen to us.”

Jenny-May Clarkson's book was targeted by a vandal in a Hamilton bookstore.

Although the store had experienced theft, no one had deliberately vandalised stock until now, Carter said.

“In 2025, as everyone knows retail is hard for anyone. We are [up] against the bigwigs, we are very local and our customers support us and they’re amazing. It’s hard work in this retail environment and then to see that, that’s more money going out of my pocket.”

The store owner had not engaged with police yet as she was unsure as to whether they could do anything.

“I want this person to know that they’re not welcome back and we will trespass. I don’t want this kind of behaviour in the store.”

Because it had happened at multiple stores, Carter felt the man’s actions were racially motivated.

“Someone’s got an issue, a big issue.”

Hireme-Smiler, a former cross-code international-turned commentator, hails from Putāruru, South Waikato and is of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Ahuru descent.

Clarkson (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahu) is another former international sporting star who successfully transitioned to a media career.

Tui – a Black Ferns World Cup champion and sevens Olympic gold medallist – has Samoan, Irish and Scottish heritage.

“What really annoys me is that these three women who have written these books, and what they’ve gone through to get to where they are, is unbelievable,” Carter said.

“And this person just comes along and just does this to their books, that really grates me.

“It’ll be really interesting to find out if this is happening anywhere else in the Waikato. What concerns me is that he’s doing it another store.”

She estimated the culprit was aged “between 45 and 60”.

“We hope he feels like sh*t. It’s just uncalled for. We’re not going to tolerate this behaviour any more.”

– RNZ