North Shore stabbing: Man accused keeps name suppression

Four members of the public have been stabbed at Murrays Bay on Auckland's North Shore. Video / NZ Herald

The identity of the man alleged to have stabbed four people on Auckland's North Shore will remain suppressed as the publication of his name would risk his life, an Auckland court has heard.

The man, 41, is suffering from psychosis and is currently in a forensic mental health facility following the incident last week in the suburbs of Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay.

The man did not appear in North Shore District Court today, due to his current mental health condition.

Appearing in front of Judge Kirsten Lummis, the man's legal representation said the man was in a "fragile mental state" - supported by letters from two doctors.

As such, his lawyer asked for a continuation of name suppression based on the potential risk to his life.

"If his name was published at this time, there could be risks to his life or mental health," she said.

The suppression would be considered again at the man's next appearance on July 20.

He would be remanded without plea to the Mason Clinic, an Auckland forensic mental health facility.

The man appeared in Waitākere District Court on Friday morning charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one assault charge. A second assault charge has since been added.

The man was remanded in custody without issuing a plea and was granted name suppression.

He is alleged to have stabbed four people on Thursday last week in an incident that rocked the normally quiet coastal suburbs of Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay.

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The four victims suffered moderate injuries.

According to witnesses, several members of the public bravely intervened by encircling the man and leading him away from other people before disarming him.

"There were members of the public that acted in extreme bravery, they apprehended the offender and brought this incident to its conclusion," Waitematā district commander Superintendent Naila Hassan said.

"It could've been a lot worse and that's why I really need to acknowledge the bravery of those members of the public."

Hassan described it as an isolated and random incident with no indication it was a hate crime.

Waitematā district commander Superintendent Naila Hassan talks to media after the incident. Photo / NZME

Kee Lee, 66-year-old retired builder, told the Herald how he almost became the man's fifth victim during his daily morning walk to Murrays Bay Beach on Thursday when he was grabbed from behind and found himself face to face with the knife.

After briefly freeing himself from the attacker's grasp, Lee says he was caught again just four or five metres down the road by the man.

"I had to do something to save my life so I turned back [to face the attacker]," Lee said.

"I realised I was not able to run away from him because he was much younger, and an able man, strong. So I decided to hold his knife… holding his arm [so he] couldn't stab me. I held his wrist."

Lee said the attacker again had the knife raised above his head as he grappled with him.

"Because I am shorter than him there is some distance between us, and I reached up my hand to hold his wrist. He pulled it away and tried another [stabbing] action," Lee said.

"So I turned around and ran away again even though I knew I will be caught again soon. At that time I thought I was going to be caught again so I started screaming. Short, high screaming, several times, three or four times while I am running."

A knife on the ground at the scene of a mass stabbing where four people sustained moderate injuries last week. Photo / RNZ

Lee said he decided against running to the door of a nearby property out of fear he would be cornered if nobody was home.

"I saw one red car parked in the street, so I think 'oh that'll be my shelter'," Lee said.

Laughing at the absurdity of it, Lee said his plan was to "make a game" of the car obstacle and try to run the opposite direction of his attacker either side of the red car.

"At that point he gave me up. He was going to the beach."

With tears in his eyes, Lee says at that point he "wanted to raise an alarm" to alert the mothers and children he knew would be down at Mairangi Bay Beach just a couple of hundred metres away.

"Usually at that time not strong men would go to the beach, so only older people, women with babies, would be around there," Lee said.

"So I want to raise the alarm to them, try to chase him but without anybody's help, without anything in my hand, I cannot do it. I know myself, I have a limp, not a fast runner, I am very old and [have] many problems."

Kee Lee, 66, has lived Murrays Bay on Auckland's North Shore for 12 years and was almost the fifth victim in last week's stabbing incident. Photo / Tom Dillane

Lee said he kept yelling for help from the street until another elderly man finally came out.

But in a response that baffled Lee at the time, the elderly man just returned to his house despite obviously having heard Lee's screaming.

"Nobody else wanted to come out so I decided to follow him and go into his house," Lee said.

"When I got to his house he was talking on the phone."

Lee then saw a sharp spade from the man's open garage which he wanted to grab to go after the attacker - but he was stopped by the property owner still on the phone.

"I want to go chase him, I want to raise alarm, because I know where he was going," Lee says, sobbing.

At this point, Lee saw the blood in the hallway and the scene began to make more sense.

"I noticed his wife, old lady, was attacked… his wife was sitting inside the entry, shaking and bleeding. He [the husband] was talking to the police."

"She was stabbed on the shoulder… and she definitely got a cut and bleeding [on the hand]."

Police set up a large cordon in the coastal North Shore neighbourhood. Photo / Michael Craig

Lee attempted to comfort the injured woman while her husband was preoccupied on the phone.

"I noticed that she feel cold. Her left arm was shaking very much, so I want to help her. So I hold her shaking arms and ask her have deep breath otherwise you can go into shock."

Meanwhile, the attacker had wandered down to Mairangi Bay Beach and stabbed other members of the public near a bus stop.

One woman described screaming for help as she ran from the man as he brandished a "big knife", while another witness reported seeing another person scream and clutch his stomach in pain.

Ultimately, a brave group of bystanders banded together to subdue the attacker further south down Mairangi Bay Beach. One reportedly used a crutch to bring him to the ground.

Police arrived shortly after and handcuffed the offender around midday.

A day after the attack, Lee said he remained very scared, alone in his Murrays Bay home.

His wife has been away on a trip back to South Korea for a month now, and Lee is for the moment unwilling to leave his property.

"Since the incident I've become very cautious so I don't want to open the gate, open the door. Even in daytime I close the curtain here. I don't want to go out for a walk because I'm frightened. At the moment I am alone by myself."