Witness rushed to dying cabbie

Witnesses found Hiren Mohini's (left) car rammed up against a fence (right) after the driver was stabbed to death on View Rd. Photos / Supplied, Richard Robinson

A witness who rushed to the aid of a dying taxi driver says the man was slumped over the steering wheel, bleeding from knife wounds to his neck and chest, with his foot on the accelerator.

Hiren Mohini, a driver for Co-op Taxis, crashed into a brick fence of an old retirement home on View Rd in Mt Eden at about 1.20am on Sunday, after allegedly being stabbed by a passenger.

Police were last night hunting his final passenger - a man in his mid-to-late 20s - who was seen running toward Esplanade Rd after the crash.

The witness, Adam Couper, lives opposite the home and was one of the first on the scene.

The 23-year-old said he heard a loud thud and rushed across the road, where he saw the car rammed up against the fence.

"By the time we got there the car was already stopped but the driver was sort of slumped over and had his foot on the gas - he was doing a burn-out. One of my flatmates was in there trying to help, moved his head back so he could breathe but there wasn't much we could do."

Mr Couper said Mr Mohini's injuries were horrific.

"He had a knife wound to his neck as well as a pretty good stab to his chest. He was bleeding pretty profusely and there was blood all over the door."

Other neighbours tried desperately to staunch Mr Mohini's wounds with teatowels while they waited the five or six minutes for the ambulance to arrive, a period that felt like an "eternity," Mr Couper said.

Mr Couper and his two flatmates ran out the door as soon as he heard the crash but didn't see anyone running from the scene.

Detective Senior Sergeant Hywel Jones said the weapon used to kill Mr Mohini hadn't been recovered.

The man police were looking for is described as about 1.75m, of slim build, with long, greasy hair in a wavy style swept back from the forehead. He was wearing a long-sleeved, buttoned-up shirt, dark denim jeans, black leather shoes and was carrying a black bag with a strap.

Mr Jones said the police believed the man hired the taxi in central Auckland at about 1.20am and were checking nearby security footage.

A Mt Eden resident who lives on nearby Kawaka St alerted police to blood splatter on their veranda. Police couldn't say if it was related to the homicide inquiry.

Auckland Co-op Taxi drivers, grief and anger etched on their faces, yesterday stood quietly outside the cordon and watched while police worked.

Others showed support for Mr Mohini's young family by visiting their home. Many of them responded when Mr Mohini hit a panic button, however when they arrived at the scene they found ambulance staff were performing CPR. Krishna Reddy said drivers were well used to coming to each other's aid when the panic button was hit - not a Friday or Saturday night went by when there wasn't a situation colleagues were called on to respond to.

NZ Taxi Federation is calling for compulsory security cameras. Executive director Tim Reddish said it was up to the Government to "make it happen".

"The industry won't put them [cameras] in unless they are made compulsory," he said. "I am just wondering how many more murders there have to be before the Minister of Transport wakes up and makes security cameras compulsory."

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said he would call a meeting of taxi industry representatives to discuss safety improvement options.

"That's both the Taxi Federation and quite a significant part of the industry that doesn't belong to the federation, the Department of Labour and the Transport Agency and looking at what further action can be taken. I think we are getting to the point sadly, on top of other recent events, where unfortunately what we're seeing is a trend toward a much less safe environment for taxi drivers."

Auckland Co-operative Taxi Society chairman Ian Graham said it management had discussed issuing police-style flak jackets to nightshift drivers and supported the installation of security cameras or screens that shielded drivers from passengers.

"We have to look at all avenues to make sure that we do something."

Anyone with any information is asked to ring 0800 OPERATION EDGEWATER (0800 444 014) or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.