By SCOTT INGLIS
A hunger-striker in Mt Eden Prison has given up after his partner begged him to.
But convicted burglar Kara Whareumu has threatened to strike again if prison authorities return him to Hawkes Bay Prison - 500km from his family.
Whareumu, a 38-year-old Whangarei father of four, spent 26 days on a hunger strike in protest against being transferred to Hawkes Bay.
He was jailed for three years and nine months on June 8 after being found guilty in the Auckland District Court on burglary charges and remanded to Mt Eden.
He was taken to Hawkes Bay on June 21 because his bed was needed for someone else. Four days later, he started his hunger strike, protesting at the distance he was from his family.
He ended up back in Mt Eden after appearing in the Auckland court on July 3 on a drink-driving charge, but continued his protest because authorities would not guarantee he would stay there.
On Wednesday, he started refusing water but relented the next day after finding dehydration tougher than he thought and after his partner begged him to give up.
His partner, who would not be named, told the Herald: "I'd rather he came home in one piece than in a box. But if they had to send him back down the line, he'd do it again, he'd do it properly, and knock the water on the head straight away."
She said the hunger strike had been hell for her family.
Whareumu is still passing blood in his urine and is in a medical wing. He is now on soup and fluids.
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