Detective Stabbed; Goes To His Help
(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 15. A 15-year-old boy went to the assistance of a Wellington detective grappling with a man in a reserve in the northern suburb of Khandallah late this afternoon while another youngster ran for help.
Detective Constable John Bethwaite was stabbed three times by the man and is in Wellington Hospital tonight.
Brian Clark, aged 15, of Ngaio, a suburb adjacent to Khandallah, jumped on the man’s back during his struggle with the detective; Archie Ransfield, aged nine, also of Ngaio, ran for help.
from the bush bleeding from two stab wounds in the chest and a deep wound in an arm. An ambulance rushed him to Wellington Hospital as the first of more than 100 police began pouring into the area in search of the man. Clear Trail r A police dog followed a : i clear trail along narrow bush 1 ' tracks till they intersected ithe main track through the
Detective Constable Bethwaite had chased and caught up with the man in the reserve after police had been called to investigate an alleged sex offence there. Another Ngaio boy, Trevor Farrer, aged 10, said later: “I saw them fighting up in the bush.”
He told how a man produced a large knife or bayonet and stabbed the detective. Brian Clark suffered a cut on the hand after Mr Bethwaite had been stabbed and the man ran off along bush tracks. Mr Bethwaite was carried
• reserve, where the scent was ■lost among a dozen others. A brown overnight bag was found at the scene of the stabbing. It contained a train timetable, an oilskin, a binocular, a newspaper, and a pair of shorts. The bag and contents were
taken to the Wellington Central Police Station for fingerprint checks. Not Optimistic Police moved into the bush in groups of about three and four about half an hour after the stabbing. Police cars were stationed at strategic points round the perimeter of the 150-acre reserve and adjoining bush. Late tonight the police were not optimistic they
would catch the suspect in the reserve. Poliee are anxious to interview a foreigner, they describe as sft sin, aged 50 to 55, and of solid build. He is believed to be wearing a green shirt and green trousers. Mr Bethwaite was reported to be in a satisfactory condition in Wellington Hospital tonight; Brian Clark had been treated and discharged. The picture shows Detective Constable Bethwaite having his wounds tended by an ambulance officer seconds before he left for hospital.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 1
Word Count
425Detective Stabbed; Goes To His Help Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 1
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