Ex-cop still in a coma

Photo / Martin Sykes

The distraught family of a former top cop - who suffered severe head injuries when he was allegedly punched to the ground a few metres from his Herne Bay home - are clinging to hope he will recover.

Father of three Wayne Harris, 55, remained in a critical condition seven days after he was found lying in a pool of blood outside a block of flats in the upmarket Auckland suburb.

Witnesses said Harris was walking towards the flat he shared with his partner Sarah Murray when he was knocked to the ground by an "extremely loud" partygoer.

Ambulance officers and police raced to the scene and a 22-year-old unemployed chef from Grey Lynn was arrested soon after.

Harris remained in a coma yesterday after suffering a fractured skull. Murray, his partner of three years, said she was trying to remain positive.

"He is a wonderful caring person and he is a very loving father of his children," she said. "It's a very severe injury but I'm a positive person and we have got to think the best."

Murray, 40, who works in banking, said messages of support had been flooding in. "His children and all his family have spent a lot of time at the hospital. He has got a lot of friends in the police force; it's amazing the camaraderie they have."

Harris, who has three children aged 19 to 24 from a previous relationship, worked as a police officer for more than 30 years in Auckland. He moved to the Internal Affairs Department to become an investigator about five years ago.

A witness, who asked not to be named, said she saw a group of "rowdy" young men wearing dark clothing leave a party about 6pm last Sunday.

She then heard a fight break out and saw Harris lying on the ground.

"There was a whole lot of noise and carrying on. It was horrible to see, I have tried to block it out of my mind."

Neighbours said there were often loud parties at the flat. One said: "The people who live there are a nuisance." When the Herald on Sunday visited the flat, a man who answered the door was wearing an electronic bracelet. He said he knew nothing about the alleged assault.

A 22-year-old, who has interim name suppression, has been charged with assault.

He has been released on 24-hour curfew and will reappear in Auckland District Court next month.

bevan.hurley@hos.co.nz