Park attacker committed for psychiatric treatment

Charges laid against the man dubbed a "bloody animal" for randomly punching a 63-year-old cyclist off her bike, then hurling her from a 3m bridge, have been dropped because of his mental health.

The woman was biking alone in an Ellerslie park early on a Sunday morning when her assailant approached her as she was crossing the footbridge. She said hello, but without saying a word, he began punching her.

He threw her from the bridge into the water below. As she clambered out of the creek in Waiatarua Reserve, he threw the bicycle on top of her.

She suffered a fractured eye socket, a back injury and scratches to her legs. "This is a callous, vicious attack by a bloody animal ... We're lucky there was no serious injury," Detective Sergeant Jason McIntosh said in March last year.

The assault sparked a police man-hunt for the man, who was linked to two other attacks in the Auckland suburb in January 2008.

Police found that he punched another man laying a treasure hunt for children in another nearby park, and also stiff-armed a cyclist in the face.

When police arrested him at a home near the park, he punched a police officer twice in the face. He said nothing before, during and after each attack.

Charged over the bridge assault, it became clear to police that he had a history of mental health problems.

Yesterday the charges against the 35-year-old man, who has name suppression, were dropped in a special hearing at the Auckland District Court.

He was found unfit to stand trial and was committed as a special patient at the Mason Clinic, Auckland's forensic psychiatric unit for mentally ill offenders.