Amnesty for tipster if not bottle thrower

The bottle that struck Mary Loader. Photo / Tauranga Police

An anonymous caller has been offered amnesty from prosecution if he tells police who threw the beer bottle which last weekend smashed the face of 65-year-old woman.

Mary Loader was seriously hurt when a bottle of beer was thrown from a car last Sunday morning as she walked on Domain Rd in suburban Tauranga.

She had several titanium plates inserted in her face to stabilise broken bones. She had been taken off a ventilator but was still in intensive care in Tauranga Hospital after doctors put her into a coma to help her recover.

An anonymous caller gave police a nickname of the alleged offender and a street where the person lived, but police said they needed to speak to the caller again.

Detective Sergeant Darryl Brazier from Tauranga CIB said if the caller was in the car but did not hurl the missile they would not be prosecuted, if they gave police the thrower's name.

"We haven't got a specific address. We have got a specific street and we will be making some inquiries to see what we can find there.

"This person who rang clearly knows more and we really need to talk with that person again."

Mr Brazier would not reveal the nickname provided by the caller, but said no one of that nickname was known to police.

"We are making inquiries through our own resources and other agencies around nicknames in that street.

"We are very pleased that someone had enough of a conscience to try and help with this case, but we urgently need to clarify some of the information that person left," he said.

"We are appealing for that person to contact us again and, if they wish, any information supplied can be treated with total confidence."

Mr Brazier said there was a high chance the person who threw the bottle did not immediately know how badly Mrs Loader had been hurt.

"But by now they are probably aware of the terrible damage they have caused and by coming forward now they will go some way towards putting it right.

"It will be weighing heavily on their conscience."

Mr Brazier said Mrs Loader would be emotionally scarred for life and would not be interviewed for some days, probably next week, depending on her recovery.

- NZPA