Ms Hope Clayton, of Dunedin, NZBM for an act of bravery
Mid-afternoon on 10 May 2021, a man with a short kitchen knife in each hand attacked a staff member at a supermarket in central Dunedin, causing multiple wounds as she tried to defend herself. Several shoppers and staff in the busy supermarket attempted to restrain the offender during his frenzied attack, which occurred in little over a minute, with four people in total sustaining stab wounds. Ms Hope Clayton was shopping with family when she heard screaming and went into the aisle. She saw the offender stabbing the wounded employee on the ground. Ms Clayton approached the offender from behind and struck him twice hard in the back of the head with her mobile phone, hoping to distract him away from the staff member. She then backed away realising the danger the offender posed and yelled “man with a knife” to alert others. At this time other staff and members of the public had moved to assist. The offender was restrained until uniformed Police arrived. Ms Clayton acted without hesitation to attempt to distract the offender away from the wounded staff member, demonstrating bravery.