Savage attack on golfer, aged 85

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 34

Savage attack on golfer, aged 85

Special correspondent Auckland A Hamilton man, aged 85, was punched savagely and his jaw broken in three places after he refused to hand money over to two men who accosted him in his car outside a Taupo restaurant. Mr George Tobin was on a regular visit to the town to play in the annual Golden Oldies two-day golf tournament for retired ANZ Bank staff. But instead of joining his 80 fellow players on the Taupo Golf Course the usually sprightly widower was lying in Waikato Hospital. He will undergo surgery today to repair a broken jaw, nose and cheekbone. Mr Tobin, a retired bank manager, drove to Taupo on Monday and briefly saw his nephew, Mr Joe Garland, of Napier, and Mrs Garland at the motel he was to share with them. After a quick spruce-up he went out to meet old friends. Mr Garland, also'a retired bank said that his uncle had in- :

tended to bring takeaway food back to the motel later for dinner. When he did not arrive they assumed he was dining with his friends. They did not know then that Mr Tobin had gone alone into town for a meal. The Taupo police said it was about 8.30 p.m. when Mr Tobin left Poppa’s Takeaways in Lower Tongariro Street. He was about to drive off when two men apparently to the car door and \ demanded money. \ Detective Graeme Price, of the Taupo C. 1.8., said Mr Tobin told them he did not have any and was then viciously assaulted with closed fists and knocked unconscious. About $5O was stolen from a wallet in Mr Tobin’s back pocket. His cheque book was also taken, but was found later on the road. Some minutes later Mr Tobin recovered sufficiently to drive off in a dazed condition, but he travelled north instead of south. Eventually he drove down a two-metre bank off Huka Falls Road

north of the town. Police were called and an ambulance took Mr Tobin to Taupo Hospital. Mr Tobin was transferred to Waikato Hospital.