KEY POINTS:
A man whose lawyer said he had sought "suicide by police" in Tauranga last Wednesday after a relationship break-up was granted bail today.
Sean Karepe Enoka, 30, unemployed, faces four assault charges - two of them on police - along with counts of wilful damage and speaking threateningly.
He appeared in Tauranga District Court on Friday but was kept in custody over the weekend amid concerns that his mental wellbeing and "bizarre behaviour" put his ex-partner and her family at risk.
"At worst, we could have a murder/suicide waiting to happen," police prosecutor Sean Brennan said then.
During a second bail application this afternoon, Sergeant Craig Kitto said police still opposed releasing Enoka.
What had started as a domestic had spilled out onto a Tauranga suburban street and involved innocent members of the public, as well as an off-duty police sergeant, he said.
The defendant's rage had been "out of control."
Lawyer Glenn Barnett said the main worry was that Enoka had "sought suicide by police," threatening to stab officers if they did not shoot him.
As he was leaving his partner's suburban Pillan's Point house in Tauranga about 3.30pm on February 18, after hearing she was ending their relationship, the defendant grabbed a boning knife in a leather sheath and a sharpening steel from the bench.
He had previously been employed at a freezing works, said Mr Barnett.
Out on the street, he attacked a neighbour's car in a bid to get police to come to the scene. One of the nearby residents he threatened was an off-duty policeman.
After reading a report from a forensic nurse today, Judge Peter Rollo said he believed it would be better for Enoka and his former partner if he was bailed to his brother's place in Auckland "to work things through" while the legal process took its course.
"I need to be satisfied about the safety of the victim," the judge said when he imposed several bail conditions.
In a letter to the court, the ex-partner "didn't sound particularly frightened" of Enoka at the moment. She wanted to communicate with him about their small daughter but could not see any possibility of reconciliation "at this stage."
Judge Rollo remanded the defendant on bail until March 6, ordering that he not travel south of the Bombay Hills except to attend court or see his lawyer.
Other bail conditions were that his brother collect him from Tauranga, he stay at the brother's address with a curfew in place and report to Manurewa police three times a week.
- NZPA
