Intruder stabs lodge manager

Police check the grounds of Uenuku Lodge, scene of the stabbing early yesterday. Picture / Kenny Rodger

A man is in Auckland City Hospital with multiple knife wounds after disturbing an intruder at a backpackers lodge early yesterday.

John Roy, the night manager of the Uenuku Lodge in Ponsonby Rd, was stabbed repeatedly in the torso after he caught the man trying to break into the lodge laundry about 1am.

"He went to investigate, and before he knew it, had been stabbed five times," said owner Peter Motion.

"John is quite a big man and he wouldn't feel threatened by too many people. He is not the sort of person to let someone just get away with it."

It was the second time in about a year Mr Roy had confronted an intruder. He was not injured in the previous run-in, but was not so lucky this time, Mr Motion said.

"Once he was aware someone was stabbing him, he went for the knife."

Mr Motion had been to see Mr Roy in hospital, and was told he was in a stable condition, despite his appearance. "He was lying on his back, and I could see blood coming through the sheets of the bed."

Mr Motion said Ponsonby Rd was generally a good area, and he had seen little trouble in his five years at the lodge.

The intruder would have had to scale a wall from Pember Reeves St to gain entry to the laundry, where there is a beer fridge.

Though the building was locked at night, the break-in had made Mr Motion consider "some sort of alarm system".

Detective Sergeant James Pickering said police wanted to hear from anyone who saw a male European with shoulder-length hair in the area at the time. The man is believed to have been wearing a black plastic, army-style coat and carrying a small backpack.