Police seek 17-year-old for Orewa double stabbing

Police are seeking a 17-year-old male who stabbed two teenage girls in Orewa during the weekend, leaving one in need of respiratory surgery.

Detective Mark Palma said the girls, aged 16 and 17, were with two other girls when they were attacked near a bus stop on Centreway Rd just after midnight on Saturday.

The girls had traded insults with a 17-year-old male and his 16-year-old girlfriend at the bus stop.

Mr Palma said: "The male in the bus stop has run after two of the girls and stabbed them. ... it's just cowardly to respond in such an excessive manner when not physically threatened."

The pair ran towards Orewa College as the other girls called police and an ambulance, which rushed the injured to North Shore Hospital.

The 16-year-old girl suffered cuts to her neck, hip and face, and was stabbed deeply enough in the stomach for hospital staff to operate to check her internal organs, which they found were not damaged. She was last night still in hospital in a stable condition.

Her 17-year-old companion, whose elbow was slashed when she put it up to deflect a blow, has been discharged.

Mr Palma said police had yet to recover the knife.

The girls, thought to be locals, had been drinking but were not intoxicated. It is not known if the attacker or his girlfriend had been drinking or had taken drugs. The groups were not known to each other, he said.

The male, believed to be from Auckland, is described as European, about 180cm tall, slim, clean shaven and with acne on his face. He was wearing a dark-coloured baseball cap with white writing on it, dark-coloured trousers and a blue shirt with white horizontal stripes.

His girlfriend is European with brown hair. She was wearing blue jeans, gold shoes and a light-coloured shirt. Police believe she is from the Orewa or Whangaparaoa area.

Orewa police want members of the public with information to contact them on 09 427 9805.