Grief-stricken family of 'road rage' victim to say goodbye

Jasmatbhai Pancha Patel. Photo / Supplied

Grieving family members of the grandfather who died after an alleged road-rage attack will gather today to commemorate his life.

At 11am dozens of relatives and friends of 78-year-old father-of-two and grandfather-of-five Jasmatbhai Pancha Patel will congregate for a traditional Hindu funeral at Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden.

Son Suryakant "George" Patel, 53, said it would be a large, lengthy affair.

Mr Patel died at Auckland City Hospital on Thursday. George Patel said yesterday that he was emotionally exhausted and that both family homes on Spinnaker Drive, Te Atatu, overflowed with flowers and gifts.

Bio O'Brien, a 27-year-old Tuvaluan, has been remanded in police custody to appear in the Auckland District Court on April 27. He is charged with assault but may face more serious charges.

O'Brien moved to New Zealand from Fanafuti - the capital of the Tuvalu island group - as a teenager on a secondary school scholarship. He had since pursued a qualification in engineering of his own accord.

A distant relative to O'Brien said the accused was a descendant of Jack O'Brien - an Irishman credited with driving out human trading in the islands in the 1870s.