Charge too late for innocent mum

Apsychiatric hospital inpatient who attacked a nurse was still under police investigation six months on when he murdered an innocent mum-of-four during a random street stabbing.

Zakariye Hussein was only charged over stabbing a Hillmorton

Hospital nurse in the arm with a pen after he brutally killed Laisa Tunidau Waka while on community leave from the Christchurch institution.

Following a series of questions from the Herald after Hussein was last week jailed for at least 13 years, police have defended the length of time it took to lay charges for the nurse attack. They had a report of the assault one week after it happened.

“Various inquiries were conducted in relation to the matter, and a number of witnesses were spoken with,” a police spokeswoman told the Herald. “These inquiries were ongoing at the time Hussein committed the offence of murder.”

After Hussein’s “random, gratuitous and unprovoked” murder of Waka on June 25, he had a charge of injuring the Hillmorton nurse with intent to cause grievous bodily harm filed at Christchurch District Court on July 13. His case was called two days later.

During his murder sentencing at the High Court in Christchurch last week, which heard harrowing statements from Waka’s devastated family, he was also convicted and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment on the nurse assault charge, to be served concurrently with his life sentence.

Hussein was an inpatient at Hillmorton Hospital in Christchurch and had 10 years earlier been jailed for a stabbing rampage, nearly killing a man.

And in 2018, Hussein attacked another Hillmorton nurse when he poured a hot cup of black coffee over their head. — NZ Herald