Charges for spade attack

An alcohol-fuelled domestic dispute ended with a Kaitaia man critically ill in hospital after a woman allegedly attacked him with a spade.

But the man is not a totally innocent victim, say police, who are still trying to reconstruct what happened.

Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn said police were called to a property in Grigg St after neighbours tried to break up the domestic dispute about 8pm on Tuesday.

It seemed that the 39-year-old man and a woman started fighting after a day of drinking with several others.

A 45-year-old woman got up to help the first woman but he allegedly assaulted her. She fell to the ground semi-conscious and was admitted to Kaitaia Hospital with facial injuries.

Mr Gunn said the first woman then tried to run away from the house but the man grabbed her by the hair. At that point, an 18-year-old woman attacked him with a spade.

She hit him repeatedly over the head and upper body but he seemed to be fine.

He was taken to Kaitaia police station, where his condition deteriorated. He was rushed to the local hospital and was transferred in a critical condition to Auckland City Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Last night he was in a serious but stable condition.

The first woman is also believed to have been injured but she left the house, like several other witnesses, and has not yet been found by police.

Mr Gunn said there was a good chance the domestic dispute would not have been reported to police if the neighbours had not intervened.

He believed the man would have instead gone to bed and died in his sleep from his injuries.

The 18-year-old woman has since been arrested and charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mr Gunn said there were provisions in the law for people to protect themselves or others, but they became criminally liable if excessive force was used. "We are alleging that she has donged someone in the head repeatedly with a spade, causing severe injuries, which may have taken his life."

The woman appeared in court yesterday and has been released on bail with several conditions, including a curfew and orders not to drink alcohol.

Police remained at the scene of the fighting yesterday with 16 officers working on the case.

Mr Gunn said it was too early to say if the man would face charges for his role in the argument.

"He's not a totally innocent party and we have to assess his culpability."

This is the second serious incident in Grigg St since Christmas.

Lance Murray Hughes, 39, was shot dead on Christmas Day in a domestic incident several houses from where Tuesday's attack occurred.

A 44-year-old man has been charged with that murder and is now before the courts.