A man has pleaded not guilty to murdering 25-year-old university student Thomas Coombes last May.
His body was found by a member of the public on Roy Clements Treeway about 6:45pm 24 May 2023.
He was walking home from university.
At the time, Detective Inspector Chris Barry confirmed a knife was used in the "brutal attack" that left "multiple injuries".
The man who was charged with murdering Coombes, who has ongoing interim name suppression, had not yet entered a plea as he had been “acutely unwell”.
He has been remanded in custody at the Mason Clinic – Auckland's regional forensic psychiatric service.
The family of Coomes after his death said, "he was living a happy and beautiful life... [that] was taken from him, and from all of us who love him, in a cruel act of violence".
They described him as "a keen sportsman, with a genuine interest in and love for his family and many friends".
He was walking home from university, where he was studying photography and "following his passion after becoming a qualified builder", when he was attacked, they said.
Justice Downs acknowledged members of his family who were in court today as the plea was entered.
No trial date has been set.
SHARE ME