A Kaitaia man has appeared in court charged with the murder of four-week-old baby Maree Takuira Mita Ngahere in Kaitaia.
The man, 22, was granted interim name suppression when he appeared in Kaitaia District Court this morning charged with murder of Maree in Kaitaia on February 19.
The man also faces a charge of assault on a child in relation to a separate matter and is charged with assaulting a one-year-old in Manurewa between December 1 and January 16.
The man was remanded in custody by Judge Deidre Orchard to reappear in the High Court at Whangārei on March 21.
About 20 people sat in silence in the public gallery during the man's appearance and the arrested man was visibly upset in the dock.