Hamilton dairy robbery: Man charged over violent machete attack on worker

Police have arrested and charged a man in relation to a violent machete attack on a Hamilton shopkeeper in which he lost two fingers.

Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said a 19-year-old man was arrested by Police today for the robbery of the Irvine Street Dairy on December 17.

The accused is due to appear in the Palmerston North District Court tomorrow on a number of charges including aggravated robbery, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault, assault with intent to rob, and unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.

Enquiries are ongoing to locate the other offenders involved in the incident.

Hamilton dairy worker, Nabin, was attacked by four men, one of whom was wielding a machete, as he opened the Irvine St Dairy around 7.30am on Saturday morning.

The victim’s thumb and finger were severed during the attack and he underwent an eight-hour surgery to have the fingers reattached.

A neighbour who heroically intervened earlier spoke of his terrifying ordeal after rushing into the chaos.

The attack happened just after the worker had opened the dairy for the day’s trading.

A neighbour said he ran to the dairy to help while still half asleep on Saturday morning.

“I started hearing screaming noises and realised something was wrong,” the neighbour said.

“So I ran out not even thinking about it. I was ill-prepared.”

Owner of Irvine Street Dairy, Puneet Singh. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

The neighbour confronted the robbers in front of the store and was punched, knocked out and had a machete swiped across his leg.

“When I arrived on site I just saw one person, the fog cannon was already activated and the shopkeeper was inside screaming,” they said.

According to the Irvine Street Dairy owner, Puneet Singh, his employee did not have time to hit the panic button or set off a fog cannon before he was viciously attacked with a machete by one of the robbers.

“They attacked him. We have fog cannons and panic buttons installed but there was no time for the worker to press it,” Singh said.

“He ran out the back to find safety, but two robbers chased him with their machetes, he covered his head with his hands for protection.

“They attacked him and two of his fingers were chopped off, fell on the ground. He had a lot of blood loss, there is blood on the ground even right now.”

Singh said the worker was about to become a father, his pregnant wife came to the shop, and she was “really upset”.

He said the robbers had stolen a large number of cigarettes and tobacco products from the shop: “The law of the country is bad, even if these people get arrested they’ll be out in six months and reoffend. There is no strict action and the police have no power.

“I have a young family and we are all scared to come to work but we have no option, we need to pay our bills and mortgage,” said Patel.