The candlelight vigil, organised by the Migrant Workers Association, was attended by politicians, locals and loved ones of Janak Patel. Video / Ella Wilks
Having been just given a new position of trust - a potential step up the ladder in his dream of someday running his own business - Auckland dairy manager Janak Patel decided not to back down one night when a man with a black bandana rushed into his employer’s business with a knife.
Without much time to think, the 34-year-old newlywed grabbed a hockey stick and chased after the masked bandit, who would later be identified as Ōtāhuhu resident Frederick Gilbert Hobson, 35.
Patel - who had only months earlier immigrated to New Zealand and just days earlier moved from Hamilton to Auckland to watch over Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham while its owners were travelling overseas - had initially been in a back-room living area of the business when Hobson burst in around 8pm holding the knife and a brown paper bag.
Hobson had been staking out the area unmasked for about 45 minutes, spending the last few minutes before the heist in a telephone booth directly outside the business pretending to make calls as vehicles and pedestrians passed.
“Mr Hobson ran behind the counter of the superette, forcing his way through two closed wooden panels, and approached the cash register,” court documents state, explaining that the victim’s wife was at the front of the store at that point and rushed to the back room in retreat.
“Mr Patel then stepped out and was confronted... by Mr Hobson holding the knife towards him in his right hand, causing Mr Patel to retreat back into the room where he came from.”
Murder defendant Frederick Hobson, who fatally stabbed Sandringham dairy worker Janak Patel in the course of a robbery, appears in the High Court at Auckland in 2022. Photo / Michael Craig
In addition to picking up the entire cash register, Hobson appeared to grab whatever items were in his immediate vicinity, including butane lighters and vapes, before leaving the store.
“Mr Hobson turned left down Haverstock Road and walked in a calm and casual manner towards Duncan Ave,” according to the agreed summary of facts for the case. “Mr Patel retrieved a hockey stick from the back of the store and ran after Mr Hobson.”
About 150 metres from the dairy, Hobson transferred the cash register to inside a recycling wheelie bin that had been left on the kerb before continuing to walk away with the bin in tow. But when he heard the shopkeeper approaching, he put the bin to one side, pulled his bandana back over his face and picked up a large tree branch.
“Mr Hobson ... then turned around and aggressively advanced towards Mr Patel holding a sharp knife and the tree branch in his right hand,” court documents state. “Mr Patel retreated away from Mr Hobson then advanced towards Mr Hobson, shouting and swinging the hockey stick with force at Mr Hobson on three occasions, causing Mr Hobson to retreat to avoid being hit by the hockey stick, which created distance between the pair.
“Mr Hobson waited for Mr Patel to swing the hockey stick again, dropped the tree branch, and lunged towards Mr Patel with the knife, pushing him on to the ground on his back.”
While the dairy worker was in a vulnerable position on the ground, Hobson knelt over him and held him down with his left hand while stabbing him several times in quick succession with his right. Despite the injuries, Patel continued to fight back, managing to get back to his feet as he wrestled Hobson for the hockey stick.
As both men held onto the item, Hobson stabbed Patel three more times.
Janak Patel was stabbed to death outside the Sandringham, Auckland dairy where he worked in November 2022.
“The final blow was to Mr Patel’s neck, causing him to fall to the ground once again,” court documents state. “At this point, Mr Patel moved around the wheelie bin in an attempt to get away from Mr Hobson.
“Mr Hobson approached Mr Patel once more and attempted to stab him a further time. Mr Patel managed to break free of Mr Hobson’s grasp and ran back towards the Rose Cottage Superette before collapsing after taking five steps.”
Hobson then turned around, collected the wheelie bin again “and continued walking casually” away from the scene.
Hobson left in a vehicle a short time later, while Patel tried to stumble his way back to the business. He collapsed en route and bled to death a short time later. Of his six stab wounds, one to his chest and another to his back would have been “rapidly fatal”, a post-mortem exam found.
Hobson was arrested several days after the incident following a major manhunt. He is set to be sentenced in June.
Two others were also taken into custody in the days following Hobson’s arrest, initially charged only with robbery of the same dairy. Both men were later charged as parties to murder, meaning they’re alleged to have aided or encouraged Hobson. They have pleaded not guilty and await trial later this year.
Patel’s death sparked nationwide anguish and outrage. Hundreds attended vigils and small business owners temporarily shut their doors across the country in an organised protest to highlight what has been perceived as the growing danger of operating a dairy in New Zealand.
His funeral was attended by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and MP Mark Mitchell, who currently serves as Police Minister under National’s coalition Government.
The anger hasn’t abated.
In the wake of today’s guilty plea, the Dairy and Business Association released statistics suggesting that violent acts against retailers had increased 20 per cent in 2023 and are up 121 per cent since 2015. On average, about seven retailers and retail workers were assaulted per day last year, the group said.
Flowers outside the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham where Janak Patel was stabbed to death during a robbery in November 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell
Association chairman Sunny Kaushal described the murder as “callous and despicable” but also part of a disturbing trend that politicians have yet to fix.
“New Zealand is becoming a more violent society,” he said. “That is the national discussion we must start having.”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
