Dead man locked outside on second-floor balcony

A man who died after falling off a neighbour's balcony had apparently been locked outside after urinating in the flat.

It is understood 57-year-old Stewart Paul Kingi had been drinking on the second floor of the block of Housing New Zealand apartments on Line Rd in the Auckland suburb of Pt England before falling.

Police have started a homicide inquiry after the incident on Tuesday.

He died late last week in Auckland City Hospital. A post-mortem examination showed he died from blunt force trauma to the head. He also suffered broken bones in the fall.

Two Glen Innes men, Barry Victor Harwood, 64, and Michael John Manga, 37, have been charged with assault and appeared in the Auckland District Court on Thursday. They did not enter a plea and were remanded on bail until March 25.

Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Beard said police would decide whether further charges would be laid once their investigation was complete in about a week.

Mr Kingi's body has been lying in state at Ruapotaka Marae in Glen Innes.

Housing Lobby Group spokeswoman Sue Henry said she had known Mr Kingi for about 20 years.

"He was lovely; softly spoken and never violent.

"I'd always sit down and have a chat with him at the shopping centre."

She said Mr Kingi had told her a couple of months ago that his flat had been broken into while he was home and he was beaten up by two youths before Christmas. He subsequently had a heart attack.