West Auckland ram attack: Police confirm couple died from animal attack injuries

Police have confirmed the rural couple who were found dead on a West Auckland farm yesterday morning died from injuries consistent with an animal attack.

Alfred Helge Hansen, 82, and Gaye Carole Hansen, 81 were found dead in their Waitākere paddock by their son who went looking for them after he hadn’t heard from the pair, family spokesman Dean Burrell said.

A police spokesperson said police were notified just before 7.30am.

Burrell said it was his mother’s sister and her husband who died. He said the couple were both retired and had lived at the property for eight years.

“Unfortunately, they both lost their lives in a tragic accident. They are nice people and didn’t deserve this,” Burrell said yesterday.

“Everyone’s in shock as to what’s happened. They’re very upset. I feel like I was dreaming it actually, it was a bit of shock, being told what had happened and I just didn’t believe it.”

Burrell’s father had phoned him to tell him the news.

The couple ran sheep, chicken and cattle on their Anzac Valley Rd hobby farm.

Police were confronted by the rogue ram in a paddock when arriving at the property, before shooting it dead.

The Hansens’ deaths will be referred to the coroner, police confirmed.

One neighbour who did not wish to be named told the Herald she saw the police shoot the ram.

“I saw them shoot the ram, and I put two and two together.”

She said the couple were lovely, genuine people enjoying their retirement.

Another neighbour said it was not unusual to see the pair attending to their sheep.

“He was an active person — he goes and checks his stock maybe twice a day, morning and night,” he said.

“He was always out there feeding chickens, cutting firewood, cutting trees.”

One neighbour said hand-reared rams can be unpredictable and aggressive creatures.

“Never have one, people need to know. Never trust a hand-reared ram,” she said.