Surveillance cameras helped police arrest a 21-year-old man who allegedly assaulted two American tourists in Paihia.
Daniel Tito, of Waitangi, appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last Friday on two charges of injuring and was remanded on bail to re-appear on June 23.
The two American tourists were attacked outside their backpackers accommodation in Paihia early in the morning of January 3. Detective Senior Sergeant Rhys Johnston said it had been a long but productive inquiry to work out who was responsible for the attack.
He said police were greatly assisted by the CCTV cameras that Focus Paihia had installed throughout the town in an effort to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in the Kings Rd area.
"The cameras are an excellent investigative tool. They are a real deterrent as well. Anyone thinking of this type of thuggery should consider themselves recorded and very likely to get caught."