Hamilton woman ‘critical’ after brutal attack that saw her stabbed with a pitchfork

In an unprovoked attack, Shea Ryan Dobbs, 37, of Hamilton, used a pitchfork, pot plant holder and pieces of wood on his victim. Photo / 123RF

Warning: This story contains graphic content

A man walked into a woman’s home - uninvited and armed with a large piece of wood - and aggressively announced, “I told you I would be back”. Moments later he stabbed her with a pitchfork.

The woman managed to escape outside after Shea Ryan Dobbs arrived, but she fell and became wedged between a fence and a plant holder.

Dobbs then subjected her to a “prolonged” attack by kicking and stomping on her head, hitting her with various objects and then grabbing a pitchfork and using it to stab her arm as she lay defenceless on the ground.

Some of the attack was captured by neighbours on their mobile phones and the footage showed Dobbs saying, “she is already dead mate do you have any petrol to burn this demon?”. The victim can be heard yelling for help.

After injuring the woman so severely she nearly died, Dobbs was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which has a 14-year maximum prison sentence.

He admitted the charge when he appeared in Hamilton District Court yesterday.

The woman is believed to still be recovering in Waikato Hospital from the August 18 assault, nursing multiple injuries, fractures and wounds to her head and limbs, the loss of five teeth, and every rib broken - some in several places.

It’s unclear what sparked the attack, but Dobbs knows the victim, who was granted interim name suppression by Judge Kim Saunders.

Court documents reveal Dobbs went to the woman’s home about 8.30pm and after confronting her, she tried to stand up and get her phone but he took it and threw it against a door, breaking it.

He then hit her in the side of the head and told her to “shut the f*** up”, before accusing her of stealing $23 million from him.

As well as the pitchfork, Dobbs used wood from a carport structure and a terracotta pot plant holder to beat her about the head and body.

The victim continued to call out for help. At one point, Dobbs went to a neighbour’s house and asked for petrol.

Dobbs was asked to leave the property and he returned to the woman and continued with his gruesome assault.

Dobbs then fled and police arrived soon after. He was found a short time later by a police dog handler team, with blood still on his hands and clothing.

About 10pm, the woman was taken to hospital. She was suffering significant bleeding from the head, struggling to breathe and in cardiovascular shock and required life-preserving resuscitation before being placed in a medically induced coma.

She was “extremely traumatised” by the attack, the court was told.

Dobbs also pleaded guilty to charges relating to a burglary in Cambridge on February 17, assaulting his 74-year-old neighbour on the same day, and two charges of threatening to kill in Tapu, near Thames, on May 14.

When Judge Saunders asked about his mental health status, Dobbs’ lawyer, Glenn Dixon, said he had been screened by a mental health nurse and, after discussions, had “decided not to go down that path”.

He said the offending involved “drug issues”.

Judge Saunders convicted Dobbs on all the charges and remanded him into custody for sentencing in December.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and been a journalist for 19.