Fugitive rapist appears in court

Convicted double rapist Maka Renata, who broke his Christchurch parole conditions before being recaptured in Lower Hutt at the weekend, will be kept in custody until a further court appearance next month.

Renata, 24, appeared this morning in Lower Hutt District Court. His lawyer said he would plead guilty to breaching his prison release conditions, the Dominion Post reported.

He also faces one charge of being in possession of a prescription medicine without reasonable excuse.

Renata was remanded in custody and will appear again on February 2.

He faces a maximum of 12 months in prison or a $2000 fine for breaching parole conditions if found guilty.

Police have been hunting Renata, 24, since he breached his parole conditions on December 23, leaving the Christchurch address where he had been ordered to live.

He made his way to Wellington and a tip off from a member of the public allowed police to recapture Renata, who was found hiding in the kitchen of a Lower Hutt house on Saturday night.

He did not resist arrest.

Senior Sergeant Pat Thomas said the public's help was greatly appreciated.

There was a fear that Renata would reoffend, but it did not appear that happened, he said.

There was one other male at the address. Mr Thomas said it was not yet known if he would face harbouring charges.

Renata was jailed for seven-and-half years after being convicted of rape, committed in June 1999 when he was 14.

He and his foster father Dean Hiroki dragged a 26-year-old Wellington woman into an alley where they held a knife to her throat and took turns raping her.

He was sentenced to an extra three years in jail after sodomising his 15-year-old cellmate about 16 months later.

He was due to be freed more than two years ago but the Department of Corrections applied for a special Parole Act order to keep him in jail until his final release date.

- NZPA