KEY POINTS:
The condition of a Taranaki taxi driver who was brutally attacked and locked in the boot of his car last week is improving.
Tony Brosnan, 49, from Waitara, was found badly beaten in the boot of his taxi in the Urenui School grounds, 32km northeast of New Plymouth, on Friday morning.
The taxi was found by a group of workers clearing the school grounds at 8.45am, and they contacted emergency services when they heard a noise coming from the boot .
Officer heading the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward, told Radio New Zealand that while Mr Brosnan remained in a critical but stable condition at Taranaki Base Hospital, he was showing some signs of improvements.
Police had not yet been able to get any information from the taxi driver and Mr Coward said he thought it would be a week or two before they would be able to.
Mr Coward said progress had also been made in the hunt for the attacker, with another confirmed sighting of the taxi on Friday morning.
"We now have a sighting of the taxi at the Urenui Marae around about 6.30, so that narrows it down to a two-hour timeframe."
Previously, the latest confirmed sightings of the taxi were at a BP station about 4.30am and outside the Mill nightclub in New Plymouth five minutes later.
The vehicle had been examined, but Mr Coward said it was too early to say what those results were.
Police wanted to speak to anyone who had been in the taxi, as well as a male hitchhiker who was seen walking towards New Plymouth from Urenui on State Highway 3 about 7.20am.
They also were keen to speak with anyone who may have picked up the man.
He was described as aged between 20 and 25 and had a slight build.
The cab was a white 1999 Toyota Camry, with the registration TAX1 1.
- NZPA
