A man accused of murdering newly married dairy worker Janak Patel faces life behind bars.
The 34-year-old was found at a New Lynn address and charged with aggravated robbery and murder, last night. He appeared in Auckland District Court and has been remanded in custody. He will next appear in the High Court at Auckland on December 14.
The man, wearing a blue boiler suit, stood calmly in the dock with his hands behind his back. He did not enter a plea before JP Les Smith.
Court documents seen by the Herald show the murder charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The second charge of aggravated robbery carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
A second man, 42, was also arrested and has been charged with robbery. He also appeared before Smith today and was remanded in custody to reappear in the Auckland District Court on Monday.
Both men were given interim name suppression.
Police prosecutor Victoria Brooker alleged the 42-year-old man was the driver during the incident and “in communication” with the murder-accused.
“It’s clear he took him to the incident, and picked him afterwards.”
Last night, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said police hoped the arrests would arrest “bring some reassurance to the Sandringham community after this tragic event”.
He said police were still seeking sightings of a dark-coloured Honda Inspire seen a number of times in the area and believed to be linked to the homicide.
Mourners are set to gather tonight for a candlelit vigil near the scene of the death of Patel — a man remembered as a “cherished loved one” — as shock waves about the “heinous” fatal stabbing continue to be felt in communities throughout the country.
Patel died on Wednesday night after being allegedly stabbed by a man who stole a cash register from the Rose Cottage Superette.
He was fatally injured after following the robber and then allegedly getting into an altercation with him about 100m from the store.
“I need justice for my brother,” Patel’s sister told the Weekend Herald via an intermediary last night.
She called on the killer to be held accountable and given “the toughest punishment”.
A large crowd is expected tonight, including fellow dairy workers and owners, and members of Auckland communities shocked that someone working in stores which are such a big part of New Zealand suburbs could be killed on duty.
Patel had only recently moved to Auckland from Hamilton, and was looking after the Rose Cottage Superette while its owners were overseas.
Tonight’s vigil has been organised by the Migrant Workers Association, whose president, Anu Kaloti, said there was “no place for such heinous acts in civil society”.
Dairy and Business Owners Group chairman Sunny Kaushal also confirmed yesterday afternoon that the group was organising a protest amid rising crime and increased safety fears among members.
Members wanted to highlight to the Government their anger, and would do so once Patel’s family had laid him to rest.
Kaushal said Patel’s wife was “in trauma ... she is not speaking”.
He also criticised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The dairy is in Ardern’s electorate, and she has not visited the area since the death, with Kaushal writing in an opinion piece for the Herald: “Giving 16-year-olds the vote has the Prime Minister giddy with excitement while the death of a dairy worker in her own electorate generates tea and sympathy.”
He called on the Government to admit there was a “crime emergency” in New Zealand.
“There has to be a wake-up call because something is rotten that a hard-working young man who started work in a dairy, never went home to his spouse,” Kaushal wrote. “We have a crime emergency but we also have a social emergency.”
The Government and Ardern have also come under fire from Act Party leader David Seymour, who said the Prime Minister had displayed a “complete lack of judgment” by opting to visit the Chatham Islands and not her grief-stricken electorate.
“Instead of dropping everything to be in her electorate and making the response to retail crime a priority, she is on a plane to the Chathams,” Seymour said.
The Act leader added Patel’s death should prompt action from the Labour Government in targeting offenders.
Ardern defended her trip, her first visit to the Chathams, saying she had been in touch with some Mt Albert community leaders and she also didn’t want to disturb Patel’s grieving family.
“It is my local community so I will be looking to be present there as soon as I’m able to,” the Prime Minister said.
“But I’m also very aware there’s a family grieving and there is an active police investigation into a homicide and I do need to delicately balance being in the right place in the right time.”
Ardern also rejected any suggestion that her not being in Sandringham represented a Government not doing enough to address crime.
After being stabbed, Patel managed to make it back to the Rose Cottage Superette and call for help, but he died. A post-mortem examination was done on Thursday.
Beard said, “We would like to thank all those who have already contacted police with information.
“Police still need to hear from anyone who witnessed the altercation that occurred around 100m from the dairy, or believe they saw the offender on foot, before or after the incident.”
Meanwhile, an Auckland dairy owner whose wife and son were badly injured by a knife-wielding robber in a “terrifying” attack in 2018 says the killing of Janak Patel is a tragedy and sign of growing violence.
“It’s sad that could happen,” Navin Patel, who owns Grey Lynn’s Hylite Dairy, told the Weekend Herald.
“It’s very bad. I think the crime is getting out of control right now.”
In June 2018, Navin Patel’s wife Gita and son Siddhart were attacked as they worked at the family store on Great North Rd.
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