Bashed Auckland man still critical

A man almost bashed to death in an Auckland suburb on Saturday night is barely hanging on to life.

Critically ill in a drug-induced coma in the critical care unit at Auckland Hospital, his condition is unchanged from when he was admitted late on Saturday night.

The man was taken to hospital after police answered a 111 emergency call to a fight in Morrie Laing Ave in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill.

He had been hit several times by more than one person with several weapons. His brother was also badly hurt but his condition was not life-threatening.

An earlier 111 call, 90 minutes before the fight, went astray and is being investigated by police.

However, Detective Senior Sergeant Gerry Whitley said the two calls were entirely separate events.

The injured man was due to be taken out of his drug-induced coma to see how he coped and Mr Whitley said until that happened his future was still uncertain.

"He is still alive. Every hour that goes by is a good sign," he said.

The man had multiple fractures to his skull, brain contusions, and a brain injury.

Mr Whitley said the two 111 incidents were separate and if police responded to the first call, he was confident the fight would have been all over by the time they arrived and no one would have been there.

Police have been criticised for some failures of the 111 emergency call system and a draft report from an independent inquiry has been sent to police commissioner Rob Robinson.

The inquiry began last year after a 111 call from distressed Auckland woman Iraena Asher was mishandled. Police sent a taxi to a town address instead of the west coast Piha settlement where she was calling from. Ms Asher has not been seen since.

The review also considered other complaints over the 111 service. It will be released after the feedback process had been completed.

Police said the call-taker at the police Northern Communications Centre in Auckland who failed to dispatch the first 111 call about the fight was unlikely to be heavily disciplined.

She was a reliable staff member. She had handled the call properly but failed to pass it on to a dispatcher.

Police said it seemed the first call was never dispatched because of human and not a technical problem. The matter would also be referred to the Police Complaints Authority.

Police are also under heavy criticism for hundreds of crimes not assigned to police officers several weeks after they had been reported, including rape complaints in Auckland.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said victims of crime waiting for police to investigate their cases should start a petition calling for more police.

Police were not in the areas where the public wanted them, he said.

- NZPA