KEY POINTS:
An elderly Auckland woman who suffered serious head injuries when she was tied up and her home of more than 30 years was set ablaze has been moved to a new property.
Francis Gavin, 83, was found unconscious in a pool of blood with her arms and legs bound in the basement of her home in Howick, Manukau City, on November 26.
The home was in flames.
She was taken to Middlemore Hospital after the attack and is now in a new home, says police inquiry head Detective Sergeant Shaun Vickers.
"I think she's been in that home since the late 1960s or the 1970s," Mr Vickers said.
"Her house was pretty much completely destroyed from smoke and fire damage and it would have cost a lot to rebuild it.
"I think it's a combination of that and the trauma of the attack that's led her to go somewhere else."
Brett Wellm, 43, was charged this month with attempted murder in connection with the attack.
He had earlier been charged with arson, assault, making threats to kill, two aggravated burglary charges and assaulting a police officer when he was arrested.
Wellm is due to reappear in the Manukau District Court on March 5.
- NZPA
