Auckland man suffers broken eye socket, concussion during violent train attack

Warning: Graphic photos

A man is recovering from a broken eye socket and concussion and had his $500 headphones stolen during a violent attack on Auckland’s Eastern train line.

Panmure resident Anthony Nein was travelling on an afternoon commuter train from downtown Britomart to Panmure when he and two other passengers were punched, groped and spat on by a dozen young people.

Auckland Transport says violent incidents were “totally unacceptable” and work was under way to ensure teams were in the right places to deter antisocial behaviour on board public transport.

The 45-year-old told the Herald the group who boarded the train appeared to be drunk, were rowdy and acting suspiciously.

“One of them sees my expensive pair of headphones and decides she wants to sit next to me.”

The train was empty and the 45-year-old refused to allow the girl to sit beside him.

“The group then started going off at me. One of them spat on me,” Nein said.

The next thing he knew, the group jumped on the Panmure resident, punching him in the head.

“One of them grabbed my testicles and another managed to grab my headphones and got away with them.”

“Two other passengers had their phones stolen. All of this took place as we were leaving Britomart.”

Nein said the violent assault on him and two other passengers continued on the train through to Ōrākei station.

Anthony Nein was attacked by a group of drunk youths on an Eastern Line train in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Nein suffered a broken eye socket and had his $500 headphones stolen. Photo / Supplied

“[There were] approximately 12-13 youths aged between 12 and 17,” he said.

By the time the train arrived at Ōrākei, the train conductor had realised what was happening and helped remove the young people off the train.

“By that time, one of them pulled out a bottle of clear spirits and shattered it on the window.”

Police told the Herald they received a report of an assault on board a train and located a group of youths nearby.

“A mobile phone, which had reportedly been taken from one of the victims, was located and returned,” they said.

“The group of nine were served trespass notices from Manurewa, Britomart, Ellerslie, Orakei, Glen Innes, Newmarket, and Onehunga train stations.”

One person received moderate injuries on board the train.

Inquiries are continuing and the youths have been referred to Youth Aid.

Nein has praised police actions after officers apprehended nine of the 12 youths. However, he was critical of Auckland Transport’s response.

“I got a generic response when I made the complaint, telling me that if I ever feel in danger because of anti-social behaviour I should hit the emergency button or call 111,” he said.

“If anyone had bothered to review the security footage, there was no way anyone could have done that.”

The Panmure resident has been left with a broken eye socket, concussion and PTSD.

“I spent a week laid up in bed. I’m going to have a CAT scan to see how severe the damage is.”

Auckland Transport Public Transport Operations group manager Rachel Cara said that on November 18 a group of young people got into a fight onboard an Eastern Line train at about 3.45pm.

“The train was delayed for a short time at Ōrākei Station before continuing on to Manukau.”

AT initially said an adult passenger received “minor injuries” and was “promptly given first aid treatment onboard by the train manager”.

It later clarified this was based on an initial report that understated the severity of the incident and the man’s injuries.

AT carries passengers for more than 1.7 million trips each week and most of these trips are without incident, Cara said.

“We work closely with our train team and transport officers after incidents like this to ensure we deploy our teams to the right places to deter antisocial behaviour and provide reassurance to our passengers and crew.

“Any aggressive, threatening and antisocial behaviour in public spaces is totally unacceptable and we will continue working closely with police, our partner agencies and communities on ways to improve public safety.”

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.