Christmas Day crash accused barred from Tauranga

A cross at the site where the two girls were killed. Photo / Alan Gibson

The man charged with the deaths of two teenaged sisters in a Christmas Day crash has been bailed and barred from coming back to Tauranga unless on official business.

Hetaraka Hikurangi Reihana, 20, appeared in Tauranga District Court today charged with two counts of manslaughter.

Two fresh manslaughter charges have also been laid against Reihana combining the charges with those of two others involved in the crash - 17-year-old Haki Davey and Phillippa Morehu, 36.

Morehu's daughters, Brooklyn and Merepeka Morehu-Clark, aged 13 and 14, died when the car they were in collided with a ute on Welcome Bay Rd, near Tauranga.

They were in the back seat of a maroon Honda driven by Reihana and were not wearing seatbelts.

Dressed in a blue Puma sweatshirt, with his eyes fixed downward and supported by a dozen family members in the public gallery, Reihana was bailed to an Auckland address.

His bail conditions prevent him from driving, consuming drugs or alcohol, and from entering in Tauranga unless to attend court or meet with his lawyer.

He was remanded to re-appear in court on January 23.