Neighbours Go To Rescue In Wainuiomata Stabbing

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release.html?id=3555

Lower Hutt Police are praising the actions of concerned neighbours who went to help a woman who had been stabbed in her home.

Detective Sergeant Brendan Mears, Lower Hutt CIB, said the timely intervention by several neighbours who heard the woman's screams helped save the victim's life.

"They heard the screams, were concerned by what they saw, went to help the woman and also called police," he said. "This was a courageous response from neighbours."

Police have arrested a man and charged him with assault. He appeared in the Lower Hutt District Court today and has been remanded in custody for a week. Further more serious charges are pending.

Detective Sergeant Mears said the 35-year-old victim is seriously ill in Wellington Hospital where she has had surgery for multiple stab wounds.

He said the woman was at her home with her four children when she was attacked by a man who was known to her. Another woman in the house went to help, receiving some minor injuries in the process, but her intervention enabled the victim to run screaming from the house.

The man broke free and chased the woman out into the street where she was attacked on a footpath.

The woman's cries for help were heard by neighbours from several houses. Some went to comfort the woman while another followed the man who had left the street in a van, and alerted police.

Detective Sergeant Mears said there was a short pursuit over the Wainuiomata Hill Road, and road spikes were used to try and stop the offender's vehicle. The spikes hit the tyres but the man continued to drive for some distance, ramming a police car, before he was blocked in by patrol cars and stopped.

ENDS

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