Middlemore Hospital’s public plea, Christmas mayhem hits Auckland airport and why Christmas dessert might be a bit pricier this year in the latest NZ Herald headlines.
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A man charged after a Half Moon Bay crash where he allegedly sped into a group of Good Samaritans helping a woman he had already hit with his car, has been granted bail.
Judge Ali’imuamua Sandra Alofivae’s decision to grant the 22-year-old electronically monitored bail sparked anger among the families of some of the five complainants, who packed the public gallery for today’s hearing at the Manukau District Court.
He entered not guilty pleas via his lawyer Johanna Guest to all charges and elected trial by jury.
The South Auckland drainlayer faces various charges stemming from the December 10 crash in Half Moon Bay’s Prince Regent Dr.
They include including wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, failing to stop to ascertain injury and drink driving.
Publication restrictions in the Bail Act prevent the Herald printing much of what happened at today’s hearing, aside from the outcome.
One side of the public gallery was filled with the families of some of the five injured, among them a young nurse who stopped to help the man’s first alleged victim.
She remains unable to work and faces a long road to recovery from her injuries.
Judge Alofivae granted the man’s request for electronically monitored bail after an application for bail was refused at his first appearance. Arguments for or against bail cannot be reported under the Bail Act.
Police are in attendance of an earlier crash in Half Moon Bay which left six pedestrians with injuries on Prince Regent Drive. One person was arrested. Photo / Hayden Woodward
The accused is subject to 24-hour GPS tracking via an ankle bracelet and has to stay at his father’s Papakura home.
Towards the end of the hearing, the father of one of the complainants addressed the judge with a comment that cannot be reported for legal reasons, before walking out.
Others in the public gallery also expressed dismay that the judge granted bail.
The judge also granted Guest’s application for continuing name suppression ahead of the man’s next appearance in the same court on May 3.
Police accuse the driver of running over a woman he had been travelling in a car with, before turning back around and driving into a group who had come to help the woman.
The bus stop near where the woman was found shows damage the morning after the mayhem. Photo / George Block
St John took two people in a serious condition to Auckland City and Middlemore Hospitals.
Two people in a moderate condition were also taken to Middlemore while two suffered minor injuries, the ambulance service said.
Police said they “understand this incident has caused great concern among the community, and we are continuing to investigate the circumstances of what took place”.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
