Trayd Tahau admits chopping dairy worker’s fingers off, going on run from police; worker still traumatised

It’s been more than a year since a Hamilton dairy worker had his thumb and finger chopped off during a violent aggravated robbery. Open Justice reporter Belinda Feek finds out how the traumatised worker is doing and reveals exactly what happened on the day Trayd Tahau robbed the Irvine St Dairy.

When a man ran into a dairy waving a machete over his head, Nabin, the terrified sole attendant and father-to-be, tried to escape out the back door.

But Trayd Tahau gave chase.

CCTV footage shows the 20-year-old, who was known to police, swinging the machete, which narrowly missed Nabin’s back.

Nabin turned and pleaded with Tahau not to kill him but, as he put his hands up, Tahau brought the machete down, slicing off a finger and thumb to the point of the joint on Nabin’s left hand.

Tahau, who was on electronically monitored bail at the time for an earlier aggravated robbery, then went on the run for six weeks before eventually being arrested in Palmerston North after stealing vehicles at gunpoint.

He’s now in custody awaiting sentencing after being convicted in the Hamilton District Court in November on a raft of crimes as his victim continues to recover from the trauma of that day.

Irvine St Dairy owner Puneet Singh said Nabin underwent an 8-hour surgery to reattach his thumb and finger, but it proved largely unsuccessful, and movement is limited.

Nabin hadn’t been back to work, but had been attending psychological sessions to deal with the trauma.

Singh said overall, when he had spoken to Nabin, he had found him “to be a little better”.

“Time is healing his pain. But he’s not [back to] normal.

“He’s never even been back to Irvine St [Dairy]. It’s taking time [to get better].”

Nabin’s wife was pregnant at the time and suffered a miscarriage, believed to be because of the stress, days later.

Tahau was one of four who stormed into the Irvine St Dairy in Hamilton early on December 17, 2022. His co-offenders ransacked the dairy, eventually making off with $15,000 worth of cigarettes.

Outside the shop, a member of the public heard Nabin’s screams and ran to help.

He confronted the group but was punched in the jaw by an offender and fell to the ground. Tahau swung his machete “with force” at the man, narrowly missing him, as he ran for the getaway car.

Tahau was finally spotted in Palmerston North driving a stolen car with three occupants on January 26, 2023. He sped off and police abandoned their pursuit because of his dangerous driving.

Tahau was seen again soon after but took off again, this time driving on the wrong side of the road.

Police laid spikes, resulting in Tahau side-swiping another car before crashing head-on into a Toyota Hilux.

Tahau’s three occupants forced the Hilux driver out of his vehicle and drove off, leaving Tahau alone – but armed with a double-barrel shotgun.

Tahau spotted a BMW and pointed the firearm at the driver as he walked towards him, but the man managed to drive off.

He then opened the door of a Mazda while still holding the gun, but again the driver managed to put his foot down and drive off.

Trayd Tahau robbed a Hamilton dairy, cutting an employee's thumb and finger off with a machete. Photo / Police

He then approached a woman in a silver Audi and yelled at her to “get the f*** out of the car”.

She spotted the shotgun and as Tahau tried to pull her from the car, he twice hit her in the head with the butt of the gun as he tried to undo her seatbelt. She eventually got out and Tahau drove off.

He was again spotted by police but took off, “undertaking” several vehicles at high speed.

The pursuit lasted around 15 minutes and only came to a stop after he lost control rounding a corner and crashed into a parked car with such force the car collided with the vehicle parked in front of it.

The owner of one of the cars chased him, but Tahau pulled out a knife and threatened to stab him so he backed off.

He was arrested a short time later.

NZME understands the female carjacking victim has since died, unrelated to Tahau’s offending.

Tahau first came to police attention on August 25 last year after he and a female friend organised to steal a man’s Ford Falcon in Hamilton.

The young woman messaged the victim to pick her up so she could do her laundry. Tahau also went along with another girl. His accomplice then asked to drive, which put Tahau directly behind him.

As she sped off, Tahau told him the Ford was “his car now” and he punched him in the head and body multiple times before stabbing him in the back twice.

Puneet Singh, the owner of the Irvine Street Dairy. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

He ended up jumping out of the car as it was still moving, and they sped off.

The victim, who suffered two stab wounds both up to 5cm long, was helped by a member of the public and later saw his vehicle being reversed out of Tahau’s home.

A few days later on August 31, Tehau and two accomplices drove a stolen Honda into the front doors of the Spark store in Te Awamutu just after 4am. They grabbed a large number of products before they got into a second stolen vehicle, a Mazda, and fled, leaving the Honda behind, causing around $20,000 in damage to the shop.

Tahau was also in a group of eight who robbed the Black Bull liquor store in Cambridge on the afternoon of December 11.

The sole store attendant saw the group pull up and tried, unsuccessfully, to lock the front door. One of the group was armed with an axe and swung it at the attendant, he put his hands up and suffered a graze.

The till, containing around $1000 in cash, cigarettes and booze, including whiskey, was taken.

Tahau admitted about 15 charges in November including maiming with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated robbery, unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle, assault with a weapon, and dangerous driving.

Tahau was convicted and remanded in custody for sentencing in February.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and has been a journalist for 19.