KEY POINTS:
A Rotorua woman seriously burned during an alleged domestic dispute is still too sick to speak with police about what happened.
Local man Gary Donald Mills, 44, unemployed, appeared in Rotorua District Court yesterday charged with assault following the house fire in Taui St, suburban Ngongotaha, about 11pm on May 1, in which the woman was burned.
The 42-year-old woman received burns to 40 per cent of her body. She remains in a serious condition at Waikato Hospital.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper told the Daily Post police had not yet been able to speak with the injured woman as she was still too ill.
Mills was yesterday remanded in custody by Judge Maree McKenzie to reappear in Rotorua District Court on June 6.
He has not entered a plea to the assault charge.
- NZPA
