Police name victim of motorway killer

Christopher Currie

A man who was killed instantly when a block of concrete was deliberately dropped from an Auckland motorway overbridge and through the windscreen of the car he was driving was today identified by police.

He was Christopher Wayne Currie, 20, of Taupo. He played prop for the King Country under 20s rugby team and was travelling to Auckland for a game on Saturday.

Police have launched an investigation to find the person they believe dropped the 8kg lump of concrete from the Princes St overbridge on Auckland's Southern Motorway on Friday night. The concrete killed Mr Currie, causing his car to crash, injuring three passengers.

It follows an increasing number of similar incidents in the area. Motorway surveillance cameras have filmed people, mostly teenagers, throwing chairs and wood at passing cars, and playing chicken by lying down on the road.

My Currie was driving north, with his girlfriend beside him and two female friends in the back, when the concrete pierced his windscreen about 9.20pm.

"It just sliced through the windscreen like a hot knife through butter. There was a big bang. All they remember is the bang, and careering off the side of the motorway," said Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone. "They are shocked, completely and utterly distraught. They are going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives. What they witnessed was horrific."

The car, registered to a Rotorua woman, came to a halt when it struck a power pole.

Last night, the shocked family were trying to come to terms with the tragedy and questioned who would do such a thing. "I think there will be some scared kids out there," said one family member.

Police closed the motorway, and detectives were joined by experts from the serious crash unit to investigate the crash.

About 20 police were involved in the inquiry, including knocking on doors in the Otahuhu neighbourhood and looking for clues.

"It's pretty barbaric. It's an insane act of stupidity that's resulted in a tragic death," Mr Grimstone said.

He appealed for witnesses to come forward, and also asked for anyone who may have been on the bridge to approach police.

"If it was a group of youths, there will be others in the group who did not touch the concrete who will want to distance themselves from having killed this man."

Mr Grimstone said a charge of manslaughter could be laid if the investigation discovered the concrete had been dropped deliberately.

In April 2003, elderly passengers on a coach trip were showered in glass when a rock thrown from the Silverdale motorway on-ramp bridge smashed through their front window.

One woman was blinded for several seconds, her ear was cut and shards of glass narrowly missed entering her eye.

And in 1997, Trevor Hoare was knocked unconscious and almostkilled by a rock, the size of two fists, thrown off the southern motorway's Market Rd overbridge and through his windscreen.

His wife Marilyn grabbed the steering wheel as they careered 800m across two lanes of the motorway and crashed into a wire fence.

Mr Hoare was taken to Auckland Hospital where he needed 10 stitches in a deep wound, millimetres from his windpipe.

"If it had hit my windpipe I wouldn't be here now," he said at the time. Police officers investigating the case can be contacted at the Counties Manukau Crime Squad on 261-1321.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY