Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Man dies after NYE assault

Northern Advocate
3 Jan, 2016 08:57 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Lee Rata, 35.

Lee Rata, 35.

A Givealittle page has been set up to help the family of a man who died following injuries from what police described as an unprovoked attack in Kaitaia.

Police said Lee Rata, 35, from Kaitaia was assaulted in Bonnett Rd around 11pm on New Year's Eve. A passing police patrol was flagged down by a member of the public informing them of a badly injured man on the side of the road.

Mr Rata was transported to Kaitaia Hospital and further transported to Whangarei Hospital but died around lunchtime New Year's Day.

On the Givealittle page Mr Rata is described as a beloved son, brother, father, uncle and partner and it says he was "taken from us in the most brutal way imaginable".

Mr Rata's sister Liz Waipouri said her brother - who left behind a 6-year-old son and 5-month-old daughter - loved his family and would do anything for them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He has a massive circle of friends because you couldn't help but be drawn in, he's such a loveable guy. He doesn't have a lot of worldly possessions but he has a ton of love and loyalty to give. He will give you the shirt off his back," Ms Waipouri said from Australia.

"He has an extremely close bond with our youngest brothers, the twins. Growing up they looked up to him. He used to play wrestling with them, and they could talk for hours. His sense of humour will have you in fits of laughter, always has a story to tell and he tells it in a way that is fit for the big screen - hand movements, different voices the whole nine yards.

"I don't talk about him in the past tense because he's still with us, watching, guiding and protecting. Doing what he does best."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Fifteen police are investigating the homicide and several search warrants have been executed in Kaitaia, but no arrests had been made at edition time yesterday.

"Mr Rata received a severe beating and it must have been seen by someone," said Detective Inspector Kevin Burke, Northland Police District Criminal Investigations Manager.

"There were a number of people in the area at the time. Mr Rata's family are naturally grieving and we urge people who have information about what happened to come forward to police. This would help give the victim's family some form of closure," Mr Burke said.

Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen him earlier in the evening and people who were in the Bonnett Rd area attending a party to contact them on 09 408 6500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Discover more

Police push crime and safety message

30 Dec 08:00 PM

Homicide investigation launched in Northland

01 Jan 03:59 AM

Tragic start to the year

01 Jan 05:00 PM

Raid arrests linked to death

06 Jan 08:08 PM

-If you would like to donate visit https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help4lee

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Elderly couple lose tens of thousands of dollars in mailbox banking scam

Northern Advocate

Far North council exodus: 219 staff in three years, grievances cost $1.27m 

Northern Advocate

Mandarin assistant allegedly robbed in broad daylight hails support after teens caught


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Elderly couple lose tens of thousands of dollars in mailbox banking scam
Northern Advocate

Elderly couple lose tens of thousands of dollars in mailbox banking scam

Police say tens of thousands were drained from the couple's accounts.

09 Sep 11:04 PM
Far North council exodus: 219 staff in three years, grievances cost $1.27m 
Northern Advocate

Far North council exodus: 219 staff in three years, grievances cost $1.27m 

09 Sep 05:00 PM
Mandarin assistant allegedly robbed in broad daylight hails support after teens caught
Northern Advocate

Mandarin assistant allegedly robbed in broad daylight hails support after teens caught

09 Sep 04:00 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP