Ring 111 instead of confronting offenders

Hamilton Police say ring 111 instead of confronting offenders following stabbing

Hamilton Police investigating the stabbing of a man in his Nawton home overnight are urging people to use caution and to contact them rather than placing themselves at risk by confronting intruders.

City Area Commander, Inspector Rob Lindsay said the call follows the stabbing of a man who woke to find a woman inside his Shannon Pl home about to leave with his laptop computer.

"The man confronted the woman and they have ended up outside the property, as the 22-year-old attempted to flee the man managed to grab hold of her and she bit his arm.

"A 15-year-old accomplice has then come to the woman's aid and stabbed the man in the back with a steak knife causing him to let go of the thief and allowing the pair to flee."

Mr Lindsay said neighbours responding to the disturbance held on to the woman until Police arrived and the laptop was recovered in a garden while officers found the girl a short distance away.

"These situations are always difficult, here we have neighbours looking out for each other resulting in the arrest of the woman, which is to be commended, but we also have a home owner suffering a stab wound trying to defend his property in what could have been very tragic circumstances.

"Incidents this severe are thankfully uncommon in our City and we would always urge caution rather than confrontation. We would prefer people capture details and descriptions rather than place themselves at risk, if at all possible call 111 in the first instance and let us respond to the problem."

The homeowner was treated at Waikato Hospital for a variety of injuries and is now recovering at home.

The 15-year-old girl arrested will appear in the Hamilton Youth Court this afternoon facing burglary, aggravated wounding and possession of an offensive weapon charges while the 22-year-old woman faces burglary and aggravated wounding charges.

ENDS