Man stabbed nine times in Napier attack

A 20-year-old Hastings man was stabbed nine times in an early morning attack at a Napier house on Sunday which police say was domestic related.

While the victim was undergoing emergency surgery in Hawkes Bay, detectives began tracking down his attacker - and enquiries led them to another Napier address which Detective Mike Signal described as "his family's home".

A 24-year-old Napier man was spoken to that afternoon and subsequently arrested and charged with wounding and aggravated burglary.

He appeared in the Napier District Court yesterday and was remanded into custody until tomorrow.

Mr Signal said the incident took place at a house in Morris Spence Ave, Onekawa, just after 5.30am.

While the two people involved did not know each other they both knew someone at the address.

There were other people in the house at the time but no one else was involved in the incident.

Police were alerted by others at the house who also helped attend to the victim until emergency services arrived. By the time police got to the scene the offender had fled.

Mr Signal said the victim was a lucky man as the wounds were "reasonable size punctures" but none had struck a vital organ.

The weapon used in the attack had not yet been located but is believed to be a hunting or fishing-style knife.

The injured man's condition was said to be stable.

- Roger Moroney of Hawke's Bay Today