The owner of a brothel is facing a charge of helping a man avoid arrest after a person was shot at his central Auckland strip club last month.
Kim Allen Royden Pickard this morning appeared in the Auckland District Court facing a charge of actively suppressing evidence to enable a man to avoid arrest despite knowing that he had shot and injured a person.
Pickard, who did not seek name suppression, pleaded not guilty.
The 56-year-old has been remanded on bail and due to appear in court on August 31.
According to the charge sheet, the crime carries a maximum sentence of 14 years jail. (Pickard's lawyer Marie Dyhrberg later told the Herald that this was incorrect and the maximum penalty was five years.)