Roar of motorcycle silenced

Neighbours and colleagues pay tribute to an outgoing couple for whom the dream of a new life turned into a nightmare. NICK PERRY reports.

Janet Pike, stabbed to death at the Henderson ACC office where she worked, would normally have had her arms around her husband this morning as the couple escaped for a weekend on their motorbike.

As friends began leaving Stephen Pike's home early yesterday after spending the night comforting him, his wife's stricken workmates gathered for a Maori blessing and neighbours remembered the vivacious 34-year-old.

One neighbour, Sam Moghimi, said the couple often donned helmets and left early on a Saturday to spend time together. They would usually come back late on Sunday.

"They were a good husband and wife, a happy couple. They did everything together. There is a funny feel to the neighbourhood now."

Almost all of Mrs Pike's 40 workmates met at 8 am in their Lincoln Rd office to witness a Maori elder perform a whakawatea, or healing ceremony.

The elder scattered drops of water and said prayers in the interview room where Mrs Pike died. Staff filed through, touching walls and chairs.

One staff member sang a haunting English folk song about death - in memory of Mrs Pike's English heritage. Others spoke of the workmate they were close to and socialised with.

Waitakere MP Marie Hasler, the Associate Minister for Accident Compensation, attended the ceremony.

Mr Moghimi said the couple had been busy renovating the Glen Eden house they built three years ago. They had put in underground drainage, laid gravel and grass, and put up a trellis on one side of the house. They had done all the work together on evenings and in the weekends.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he first met the Pikes four years ago at the Rotorua marathon, when they were visiting New Zealand and thinking of immigrating.

"They were sitting quietly in a hot pool when we jumped in. We began chatting with them, and had dinner with them that night. We became very close friends - we were their family in New Zealand."

The neighbour said Mrs Pike was outgoing, vibrant and full of life. Like her husband, she was an avid runner and cyclist, and planned to cycle halfway around Lake Taupo later this year.

"But that won't be happening now."

Another neighbour, Anne Clements, remembered the time a driver who had fallen asleep came crashing through her fence. The Pikes came over, concerned about the motorist.

Mrs Clements later took the Pikes some clippings from her garden as a way of thanking them for their help.

The Pikes immigrated 31/2 years ago. Mr Pike had only recently started training as a policeman in Porirua.

Their new life now shattered, it is understood he is considering taking his wife's body back to England for burial.

* Johnny Idolf Manu, a 35-year-old beneficiary of no fixed abode, appeared in the Waitakere District Court yesterday charged with murder. He did not enter a plea, and was remanded in custody until July 9 for a psychiatric assessment.