Stabbed man silent

Press, 9 January 1987, Page 1

Stabbed man silent

By

JEFF HAMPTON

A man who staggered into a Papanui dairy with three stab wounds to the chest yesterday afternoon has so far refused to make a complaint to the police.

Brian Mathew Latta, aged 39, of Christchurch, was reported in a fairly comfortable condition in Princess Margaret Hospital last evening. Three persons, two men and a woman, have been

spoken to by the police in connection with the stabbing. They are aged in their 20s.

“We are looking for noone else in connection with the incident,” said Detective Sergeant John Lyall, of the Papanui C. 1.8.

The police will talk to Mr Latta again today, and ask him why he does not want to make a complaint. “The person who has been stabbed (Mr Latta) is not co-operating with us at this stage,” said Detective Sergeant Lyall.

Mr Latta and the three persons spoken to were known to each other, the police believe. Mr Latta staggered into Featherstone’s dairy, at the corner of Harewood Road and Harris Crescent, about 2.20 p.m. yesterday. A woman working in the dairy called an ambulance.

The police were called. Soon after, they spoke to three occupants of a car which had stopped near the dairy. Detective Sergeant Lyall said that the police sought a knife which was believed to have been used in the attack. The knife could have been left in Harris Crescent, Harewood Road, or Moreland Avenue.