Man on manslaughter charge after hotel fight

A 28-year-old labourer faced a manslaughter charge when he appeared in Tauranga District Court today following a fatal fight outside Mt Maunganui's Bayfair Tavern early last Friday.

Police have named the dead man as David John Van Berlo, a Mt Maunganui manager, who was a day short of his 30th birthday.

A post-mortem examination conducted in Auckland on Saturday found he died at the scene from massive head injuries.

The accused appeared in court briefly on Friday charged with assault but that has now been upgraded to manslaughter.

Lawyer Tony Balme told Judge Christopher Harding there was no argument his client had struck Mr Van Berlo but a question of identification had arisen out of some aspect of the events.

He asked that interim name suppression granted last week be continued for a further seven days while police continued their inquiries. Prosecuting sergeant Roy Blomkamp said he was "neutral" on the topic.

The judge granted the request, stressing there was no justification for suppression long term.

He remanded the accused on bail without plea until a pre-depositions conference set down for May 16.

Bail conditions include residential and overnight curfew clauses and no consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs.

- NZPA