In today's headlines with Wilhelmina Shrimpton, police investigate meth-laced lollies, a New Zealand pilot crashes a stolen helicopter and all eyes on the Official Cash Rate.
A man who died on Parliament grounds was distraught over the impending sale of the waterfront home he shared with his elderly mother who had racked up $40,000 in mortgage arrears, the man’s sister says.
The death of Dan Hone on Sunday has been referred to the Coroner but it was too early to say whether it would be treated as a suspected suicide, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said.
Paramedics tended to the father-of-one after being called before 8am to the scene. He later died from his injuries.
Her brother had been unhappy about the impending sale of the waterfront property he shared with his mother in the Wellington suburb of Moa Point, Hone’s sister Mika Quinn said told the Herald.
The property owned by Dan Hone's mother at Moa Point in Wellington. Hone died at Parliament grounds on Sunday, with his death referred to the Coroner. He had paid $5000 towards mortgage arrears his mother owed on the property, but was unable to stop an auction planned for August 22, family say.
The week before his death he was sending her messages saying he was upset “it had come to this”, after the siblings had tried to avoid a forced sale in recent months after learning their mother was three years and $40,000 in arrears on her $400,000 mortgage.
Hone had paid $5000 towards the debt, but was unable to stop an auction planned for August 22, and had “lost hope”.
“He wasn’t happy,” Quinn said, but her brother - who died on his 50th birthday - also knew he could live with her in Whanganui.
“I think he might’ve been planning on living at my house, and staying with his son, maybe he was gonna go between us … he had us anyway, and he knew that he had a home.”
Dan Hone's decision to move home to look after his mum was typical of the "loving, caring family person" he was, former partner Thorhilda Brennan said. Hone, who died at Parliament grounds on Sunday, had been distressed after being unable to prevent the impending sale of his mother's Wellington home.
Their mother had owned the 1234sq m hillside property for 40 years and it had a 2021 Government valuation of $1.69 million, but still had a mortgage after money was borrowed to add a second home to the property.
In April, interest rate increases saw repayments double from $800 a fortnight to $1600 a fortnight, and their mother was also behind on her rates’ bills, Quinn said.
The property had been scheduled to be sold by mortgagee auction last month. However, it’s understood the family won a reprieve and the property is now scheduled to be sold under the hammer on August 22.
Hone, a former mechanic, moved in a couple of years ago to care for their mother, who is aged about 70 and has multiple health issues.
She and her brother worried the property would sell cheaply at auction and that the price could also be affected because their mother - who says she won’t leave after the sale - wouldn’t allow open homes to take place.
“We had agreed that we are going to sell it, but we want to sell it for a good amount. What it’s worth.”
The home, pictured at left, Dan Hone and his mother shared at Moa Point in Wellington was metres from the water. Hone died at Parliament grounds on Sunday. His family say he was distraught about the impending sale of the Moa Point home after his mother failed to keep up her mortgage payments. Photo / Google Streetview
Her brother, who loved walking, motor sports and watching Bollywood and classic movies, was an amazing person who “always looked after me”, Quinn said.
Family were now arranging a private farewell once family overseas had arrived, after which Hone’s ashes would be shared among family, including Hone’s Australia-based father.
Thorhilda Brennan, who is mother to Hone’s 30-year-old son, said her former partner’s decision to move home to look after his mother was typical of the “really loving, caring family person”.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and it really didn’t need to happen.”
Hone was “trying to provide for his family, [and] look after his mum who was really unwell”, and who no one else could care for, she said.
“He was just really trying to do the best he could.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
