18 Jan 2019

Man pleads guilty over hostage incident at Manukau mall

6:30 pm on 18 January 2019

A man who held a woman at knifepoint at a South Auckland mall has pleaded guilty.

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Police standing guard outside Westfield mall in Manukau while hostage negotiations were carried out, in November last year. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

The 30-year-old man, from Papakura, appeared at Manukau District Court this morning.

He was arrested and charged on 9 November, after holding a knife to a woman's throat in the foodcourt at Manukau's Westfield.

Police spent almost 40 minutes negotiating with a man who held a knife to the throat of a woman he did not know in a mall in South Auckland this morning.

Police negotiated with the man in the Westfield food court. Photo: Supplied to RNZ

Police negotiated with the man for 40 minutes before he dropped the knife and released the woman, who he did not know. She was unharmed.

The man will be sentenced in April.