Mt Albert walkway death: man accused of fatally stabbing Tom Coombes pleads not guilty

The man accused of fatally stabbing student and volunteer firefighter Tom Coombes on a Mt Albert walkway has pleaded not guilty to murder, more than a year after his arrest.

During a brief appearance in the Auckland High Court before Justice Matthew Downs, the 24-year-old was watched by members of Coombes’ family sitting in the public gallery, as he spoke quietly from the dock to enter the not guilty plea.

His name still cannot be published because his lawyer Julie-Anne Kincade KC has indicated she will pursue continuing interim name suppression.

Justice Mathew Downs remanded the man in custody at the Mason Clinic, a secure psychiatric facility, ahead of his trial. No trial date was set.

The now 24-year-old accused was arrested on May 28 last year, four days after Coombes was found stabbed along the Roy Clements Treeway, close to Mt Albert Grammar School in Auckland.

Coombes, 25, had been walking home from university, where he studied photography.

The former Massey High School student was also a keen surfer who lived at Bethells Beach, where he served as a volunteer firefighter.

His family said in a statement last year Coombes had been living a “happy and beautiful life” before it was cut short.

The man charged with the killing of 25-year-old Tom Coombes (inset) at the Roy Clements Treeway last week appeared in court this morning. Photo / NZME

“Tom was living a happy and beautiful life,” the statement said.

”He was a keen sportsman, with a genuine interest in and love for his family and many friends. His life was taken from him, and from all of us who love him, in a cruel act of violence.”