‘Gratuitous violence’: Police vow to hunt down four armed robbers involved in machete attack on Hamilton dairy worker

A machete attack on a dairy worker who lost a thumb and finger as he tried to protect himself from armed robbers involved “gratuitous violence” and police are vowing to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The worker at Irvine St Dairy in Hamilton was attacked by four men, one of whom was wielding a machete, as the robbers stole cigarettes and tobacco yesterday morning.

The victim, who is about to become a father, has undergone an eight-hour operation to reattach the finger and thumb severed in the attack. He is now recovering in hospital.

Detective senior sergeant Kristine Clarke fronted a media conference at the Hamilton Central Police Station this afternoon.

She said police wanted witnesses to come forward.

“We understand this is a distressing incident that will cause a great deal of concern to the community,” she said

“It’s really, really disturbing.”

She said the attack involved “gratuitous violence”.

“We are absolutely determined that these offenders will be held to account for this horrific offending.”

Police were following “positive” lines of inquiry and wanted to hear from anyone nearby who had CCTV.

It appears no arrests have been made and the four offenders are still at large.

CCTV has captured a violent armed robbery at a dairy in Hamilton. Video / Puneet Singh

“People know who these people are. It’s up to them to stand up and take a stand, and show they are not prepared to tolerate this type of offending.”

Clarke confirmed the victim lost a finger and a thumb.

Police had spoken to the surgeon who carried out the operation but not yet the victim.

“He was in bed for many many hours yesterday. We are leaving him to start that recovery process before we start ... pressing him for information.”

Clarke categorically rejected claims police took 30 minutes to arrive. They were at the scene within eight minutes, she said.

She said the dairy staff, who had a fog cannon and panic alarm in the store, had done everything they could reasonably do.

“It’s a really sad indictment that at this point in time it’s not enough to stop this kind of offending.”

The offenders had shown “quite clearly ... they are prepared to use extreme levels of violence”.

CCTV has captured a violent armed robbery at a dairy in Hamilton. Video / Puneet Singh

Asked about what more police could be doing to prevent ram raids and aggravated robberies, Clarke said police were constantly reviewing their processes.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can at the moment to prevent this.”

She would not comment on legislative changes that may be required.

The dairy’s owner, Puneet Singh, told RNZ the victim had just opened the dairy for Saturday morning trading when he was attacked.

It happened so fast he did not have time to activate the store’s panic button or fog cannon.

“He ran out the back to find safety, but two robbers chased him with their machetes, he covered his head with his hands for protection.

“They attacked him and two of his fingers were chopped off, fell on the ground. He had a lot of blood loss, there is blood on the ground even right now.”

“He was begging to them ‘don’t kill me, don’t kill me’. He was saying that again and again, and he was saying the robbers were trying to kill him.

Though the worker’s fingers had been reattached, it was unclear whether he would regain full function, Singh said.

The victim also suffered defensive injuries to his other hand, though they were not as severe.

He was also deeply traumatised, Singh said.

“He’s still in trauma.

“They attached his fingers back but they are not sure at the moment how they will perform. The surgery took around eight hours to put the fingers back and he is still very scared. He is still thinking about what has happened.”

Both Singh and the worker just wanted the men responsible caught.

The Government needed to do more to keep retailers safe, Singh said.

“There should be harsher penalties. If they don’t have any consequences when they are caught ... they are going to come back and do it again.

“The Government needs to change the law and give more power to police, so they know there are consequences.”

Singh estimated the robbers stole between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of tobacco products.

Police said they were called to the scene about 7.30am on Saturday. On arrival they discovered a man outside the premises with a serious injury to his hand. First aid was immediately administered, and he was transported to hospital, where he remained in a stable condition.