Sandringham dairy stabbing: Man charged with robbery in Janak Patel homicide investigation

Police have arrested a third person as part of the investigation into the death of dairy worker Janak Patel in Auckland’s Sandringham.

A 36-year-old man has been charged with robbery and is scheduled to appear in Auckland District Court tomorrow.

Police have also found and seized a car which was being sought in relation to the homicide investigation.

Police are still searching for the knife used in Wednesday night’s alleged murder, and the drawer from the cash register that was stolen from the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham during the incident.

The clothes being worn by the man accused of the murder were also being sought, said Detective Inspector Scott Beard.

A 34-year-old man has already been charged with aggravated robbery and murder following Patel’s death.

A second man, 42, was also arrested and has been charged with robbery. Both men have been remanded in custody.

A funeral for Patel is scheduled for tonight in Wiri.

The Herald on Sunday reported the 34-year-old man accused of murdering Patel was deported from Australia earlier this year and stayed in emergency housing in South Auckland.

A manager of the boarding house, which the Herald on Sunday has chosen not to identify, said the man came with a good reference and had only stayed for a few days before leaving abruptly on Monday.

The grounds for his deportation from Australia cannot be reported for legal reasons.

The newly married man was working in the shop while its owners were out of the country. He suffered stab wounds and died shortly after calling for emergency help.

Last night, loved ones of Patel, customers of the superette and other mourners gathered to pay their respects to the slain dairy worker.

The vigil was organised by the Migrant Workers Association, whose president Anu Kaloti said on Friday that the group offered “the deepest condolences to Janak’s wife and his family”.

Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti.

Those gathered packed the footpath and observed a minute of silence after a short, sombre speech from Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti.”It’s important to unite as a community to be in solidarity with Janak’s family,” Kaloti told the crowd.

Kaloti said the country needed to look at the material conditions that had led to an environment where crime was thriving.

”This is not Aotearoa,” she said.

Wayne Orbell was among those who turned out to pay their respects to Patel. He grew up in the 1980s and 90s in the now demolished row of state houses on Haverstock Rd near the shop, known as “the pink dairy”.

Orbell fondly remembered spending hours playing Space Invaders, then running home for dinner when the street lights came on.

He was shocked to hear of Patel’s death this week and said he came to the vigil to pay his respects.

”It’s my childhood right here. It’s the pink dairy.”

A number of politicians were also there, including Labour MP Helen White, who spoke, former Labour MP turned independent Gaurav Sharma and Green MP Ricardo Menendez who cautioned against turning the death into a political football.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited members of the Sandringham community yesterday after she came under fire from Act Party leader David Seymour following the stabbing - he said she had displayed a “complete lack of judgment” by opting to visit the Chatham Islands and not her grief-stricken electorate.

The PM told media after her Sandringham visit yesterday she had spoken with Patel’s family and Cabinet would be meeting tomorrow to discuss what more could be done to combat crime.

She said it was about “prosecuting and holding to account those who are responsible”.

“I think the most important thing is that we are able to talk directly with one another.”

A man, 34, was arrested on Friday night in New Lynn, West Auckland, after a major manhunt and charged with murder and aggravated robbery with a knife.

In a brief appearance yesterday morning in the Auckland District Court before JP Les Smith, he was granted interim name suppression and was remanded in custody without plea. Wearing a boiler suit, he stood calmly in the dock with his hands behind his back.

A second man, aged 42, was charged with robbery of the same dairy on the same day.