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83-year-old bashed and bound in burning house By SARAH MACDONALD and NIC DALEY Wednesday, 28 November 2007 • Howick and Botany Times AN ELDERLY woman was beaten, bound and left in a pool of her own blood in her burning Howick home last night. The 83-year-old is now in a serious but stable condition in Middlemore Hospital. Fire services found the woman bound around her hands and legs in the basement of her Bleakhouse Rd home after responding to calls about a house fire at the address about 6.40pm. Deputy chief fire officer for the Manukau fire district, Andy Clarkson, says a back corner of the house was well ablaze upon arrival. “The first two crews that arrived went in through the front door and commenced a search upstairs. “The fire was confined to the kitchen area in the back corner but there was fairly heavy smoke through the rest of the house.” An initial search failed to locate the woman, but neighbours were adamant an elderly woman was living at the address, Mr Clarkson says. “They still couldn’t find anybody so at that point the officer in charge told one of the guys to go downstairs and check the basement area so that’s when they found the elderly lady lying on the garage floor all tied up. “Fortunately there was no fire down there, it was all clear down there and ambulance [staff] were there on hand so they were able to come in and treat her straight away and take her off to hospital.” Authorities say the woman had sustained extensive head injuries. A short time later, about 8.30pm, a 43 year old male caucasian was located inside a house in nearby Macleans Rd. “When approached by one of the occupants, the male was initially cooperative but a short time later smashed his way out of the house through a toilet window,” a police report states. “In doing so, the male received deep lacerations to his arms. The male was apprehended by the house occupier a short distance away and detained until police arrived.” The man was taken to Middlemore Hospital for treatment to his lacerations, and is assisting police with their inquiries. Police are not looking for anyone else in relation to either incident. It’s unknown at this stage whether the fire was accidental or deliberate. “The fire was confined to the kitchen area and smoke damage throughout the rest of the house,” Mr Clarkson says. Five fire appliances attended the scene and police cordoned off the road after 7pm. |