Stabbing victim named as father-of-three

Man appears in court over assault on female

The family of the good samaritan fatally stabbed in Auckland yesterday afternoon are totally devastated by what has happened, police said.

The victim was named today as father-of three Austin Bernard Hemmings, 44, of Devonport. Mr Hemmings worked as a broker manager in IAG House, which is adjacent to the BNZ Towers and backs on to Mills Lane where he was killed.

The father of three teenage children moved with his family from Hamilton to Auckland six months ago.

Officer-in-charge of the homicide investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Gerry Whitley, said Mr Hemmings was leaving work yesterday afternoon and minding his own business when a woman sought help after allegedly being assaulted.

"They did not know each other. She called on his assistance."

Mr Hemmings was then stabbed in the chest and staggered a short distance, asking nearby construction workers for help, before collapsing on the road.

"Like most abled bodied men he went to the assistance of a woman in need."

"He had no idea and there were no signs that in a very short space of time, just a second, it would escalate into a very violent reaction.

"He did not do anything to provoke that reaction.

"He had no idea it would change so rapidly or quickly…. He was assisting the woman as asked … he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He died within seconds of the incident as bystanders frantically tried to keep him alive. A woman who reached the badly hurt man used her first-aid kit and worked on him until paramedics arrived.

Ambulance officers arrived within minutes and continued to do heart massage but Mr Hemmings could not be resuscitated.

Mr Whitley said a distraught male relative of Mr Hemmings arrived at the scene after paramedics used a system called ICE (In Case of Emergency) – where contact numbers of relatives are programmed into cellphones for emergency workers to call.

He said the trauma faced by the Hemmings family was incomprehensible.

"I am struggling to really describe the total grief they are going through, total devastation.

"They are an amazing, beautiful family."

He could barely describe the pain of the family as they received a paramedic call from the scene.

"It is a practice that is used by the advanced paramedics to gain information about medical condition ... It is done for the prime reason for giving the best medical assistance he could get."

The woman who he went to help is struggling now to cope.

"The woman is alive today because of quite a few factors, but one of them is quite clearly because of what Mr Hemmings did.

"She is devastated, she is shocked, she is grieving for some one she did not know at all."

Mr Whitley said every day in the community people went to help others. Last evening was no different.

"There were a lot of heroes here, members of the public who showed that community minded spirit to help someone."

It was hoped an autopsy would be carried out this afternoon or tomorrow.

"As a result of our investigations overnight, we have secured another four scenes at various locations in the metropolitan area so it will take some time to fully examine all the scenes," he said.

"But we will prioritise in order to cause the least amount of inconvenience to members of the public."

MAN REMANDED AFTER ASSAULT

Meanwhile, a 45-year-old man arrested after a raid a house in Otahuhu early today has appeared in Auckland District Court. He faced a charge of assaulting a female.

Judge Paul suprressed the names of the accused, the female victim and a female witness.  

The man, a sickness beneficiary, appeared in court in a white boiler suit. He was remanded in custody until October 17. 

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News