KEY POINTS:
The colleagues of a taxi driver found badly beaten and locked in the boot of his own cab are distraught about the attack.
Tony Brosnan, 49, from Waitara, was found in his taxi in the Urenui School grounds, 32km northeast of New Plymouth, on Friday morning.
He was in a critical condition in the intensive care unit of Taranaki Base Hospital last night.
A colleague at Egmont City Cabs, Trish Arthur, said the seven other people in the small family were distraught.
"Everyone is very upset still," she told the Taranaki Daily News.
"We all know one another and we're all pretty close. It could have been anyone of us."
The owner of the business, Ted Cooper, had taken the day off, she said.
"He needs it."
Mr Brosnan's two children, in their 20s, were by his bedside, Ms Arthur said.
She thought Mr Brosnan, who was the firm's only driver working the night of the attack, had been attacked for his money.
Ms Arthur was until recently a taxi driver in Auckland where she had faced dangers, including robbery.
"It's a lot worse up there. This is what shocked me about Tony. You don't expect it down here. It's a lot safer here."
She would not do night duty in the future and a lot of other cabbies felt the same way, Ms Arthur said.
Police want anyone who saw the taxi in the early hours of Friday morning to contact them.
"The main aspect for us is for the public to help us, and the public always help us," Officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward of New Plymouth police, said.
The cab was a white 1999 Toyota Camry, with the registration TAX1 1.
Mr Brosnan was last seen in the taxi in New Plymouth shortly after 4.35am.
It was found by a group of workers clearing the school grounds at 8.45am.
The workers heard a noise from the boot and contacted emergency services, who discovered Mr Brosnan.
Police wanted to speak with a male hitchhiker who was seen walking towards New Plymouth from Urenui on State Highway 3 about 7.20am.
The man was described as aged between 20 and 25 and had a slight build.
Police also wanted to speak with anyone who may have picked the man up, Mr Coward said.
- NZPA
