Refugee in knife-wielding rampage denied parole

Zakariye Mohamed Hussein was jailed for more than six years. Photo / GEOFF SLOAN

A Somalian refugee who claims to have been "possessed by the devil" during a frenzied knife-wielding rampage across Christchurch that only ended when he was shot by police has been denied parole.

Zakariye Mohamed Hussein, 29, was jailed for more than six years with a minimum non-parole period of three years, three months for the March 2012 crime spree described by a judge as "serious, unprovoked, gratuitous and random acts".

Pie delivery driver Marteine Robin, who was kidnapped and stabbed by Hussein, told a Parole Board hearing last month that the incident had had "a significant impact" on her life.

She wanted Hussein to undergo treatment so he would never offend again.
While Hussein said he was remorseful for the attacks, in which he also knifed a Christchurch City Council worker, he felt that he had been "punished significantly" by the gunshot wound that affected mobility in his left arm.

The Parole Board declined parole, however, and left it open for him to apply for a treatment programme to address his issues.

Hussein's lawyer, whose name was withheld, was "realistic" that he should engage in treatment and that it would be "at least a year" before he is ready to again be seen by the parole board with any proposal for release.

There was no objection to the Parole Board's panel convenor being Judge David Saunders, who sentenced him at Christchurch District Court in September 2012.

The March 15, 2012 shooting drama started about 7am when he was disturbed in the grounds of Redwood School by caretaker Noel Batstone.

Hussein chased Mr Batstone and a teacher who barricaded themselves inside a classroom and phoned police.

He then hijacked 36-year-old mum-of-one Ms Robin's delivery van and ordered her to drive off.

She told him to "get the f*** out" of her delivery truck, but he responded by forcing her at knifepoint to drive him across Christchurch, and then stabbing her in the shoulder.

"I feared the worst, I thought I was going to die," she said later that day.

Ms Robin eventually managed to escape when Hussein was momentarily distracted at a traffic jam almost one hour, and 50km, later.

But the drama only escalated when Hussein, who arrived in New Zealand aged 18, left the truck near the busy intersection of Hoon Hay and Halswell roads and then almost fatally stabbed a city council worker, who has name suppression.

City construction worker Jade Lynn, 22, saw the attacker rampaging between vehicles and approached him with a crowbar, striking him in the neck, and herding him away from other members of the public.

Eyewitnesses described Mr Lynn as a "hero" who prevented Hussein from attacking other bystanders.

Hussein only stopped when pepper sprayed, tasered and then shot twice by a female police officer in his shoulder and wrist.

He will be seen again by the Parole Board in the usual statutory cycle.