By Rachel Tiffen
A murder investigation has been launched in Wellington after life support was turned off for a man critically wounded yesterday.
British-born 43-year-old Phil Cottrell was walking home after a nightshift at Radio New Zealand when he was attacked at first light.
As forensic police combed Wellington's Boulcott Street for evidence, detectives were hunting the person or people who bashed 43-year-old Phil Cottrell and stole his wallet.
Critically wounded, Cottrell was taken to wWllington hospital, had major surgery and was put on life support.
Friends and family have been bedside since, but he was suffering from severe brain damage, and this afternoon Mr Cottrell's life support was switched off.
“This investigation certainly has began as a very serious assault, a very violent crime but now with our victim dying it has become a homicide investigation,” say Police.
Radio New Zealand host Lloyd Scott worked closely with Cottrell and was one of the last people to see him. He says nobody can fathom what happened.
“He would be no threat to anybody – somebody said to me yesterday, one of his friends, ‘I think he’s the nicest person I’ve ever met,” says Mr Scott.
But with a rare medical condition that made his bones fragile Mr Cottrell was more vulnerable than most.
“Even if he’d been pushed maybe and his head bashed against the wall and he fell down on his arm that might have cause the horrendous injuries he ended up with,” he says.
Scott says that Mr Cottrell’s sister, his only relative in New Zealand, is desperate for anyone who saw anything to come forward to police.
Wellington police are also investigating an attack at Mermaids stripclub early this morning that left another man unconscious.
3 News