Radio host Harnek Singh found ‘showered in blood’ after being attacked, court hears

A man taking his daughters to look at the Christmas lights instead stumbled across his friend, radio host Harnek Singh, “showered in blood” following an attack in his car.

“As soon as I looked inside the car everything changed. He was like a person who had come out of a shower of blood,” Balwinder Singh told the High Court at Auckland on Tuesday.

Harnek Singh​, also known as Nekki, views had caused controversy with orthodox members of the Sikh religion both in New Zealand and abroad.

It was with that anger that a man, who has interim name suppression, came up with a plot to kill Harnek two days before Christmas in 2020, the Crown alleges.

Harnek was stabbed “within an inch of his life”.

He previously detailed what he could remember of the attack and the moment he thought “that’s it I’m gone” as he was driven off the road.

On Tuesday, Balwinder Singh, told the court he had known Harnek as a senior figure of a temple.

Balwinder told the court he’d taken his two daughters to look at the Christmas lights at about 9 or 10pm on December 23 when he turned into the road where Harnek lived.

He noticed Harnek’s red ute parked near the driveway and his friend slumped over inside.

Balwinder noticed Harnek was not wearing a turban.

”I had never seen him without a turban in my life,” Balwinder said.

Constable Jed Buddicom was the first police officer who arrived at Harnek’s home and immediately noticed extensive injuries.

“His right arm had heavy lacerations and the middle of the arm pretty much looked like it had been severed through,” Buddicom said.

Buddicom applied a tourniquet to his right arm and attempted to bandage and apply pressure to the other wounds.

“In my professional opinion the police had saved that young man’s life by applying the tourniquet and bandages,” intensive care paramedic Patricia Carlyle said.

Carlyle, who has since retired, told the court once Harnek was place into ambulance she cut his clothing and found multiple stab wounds to his chest.

“I was unable to count them,” she said.

His head wounds, which had been bandaged, were also still bleeding, Carlyle said.

The paramedic believed Harnek would die on the way to hospital.

Two Hato Hone St John’s emergency medical technicians also thought Harnek had a 1 or 2 out of 10 chance of survival. Both also believed he would die.

The jury were shown some photos of Harnek’s injuries to his head, neck and chest taken by surgeon Jonathan Heather.

The back of Harnek’s head has been shaved and is covered in lacerations which have been stapled or stitched.

Prosecutor Leilani Taula said the other photos of the more severe wounds were not being shown because of their graphic nature.

Harnek was pretty much “left for dead” after the Crown allege he was attacked by Jobanpreet Singh and two others who have already pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Gurdbinder Singh and Jagraj Singh are charged as a party to the attempted murder, after the Crown alleged they followed Harnek home.

Sukhpreet Singh is charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping two of Harnek’s attackers afterwards.

All five men have pleaded not guilty.

The trial before Justice Mark Woolford and a jury continues.