KEY POINTS:
The man at the centre of a fatal shooting by police has written a letter to the victim's family.
Stephen Hohepa McDonald, 50, appeared briefly in the Auckland District Court this morning. He stood in the dock for a matter of seconds and was remanded in custody until later next month.
Police allege McDonald had a firearm when he fled and stole two vehicles at gunpoint. Police say they pursued him through several suburbs, before he stopped on Auckland's Northwestern Motorway on January 23.
During the armed confrontation an innocent courier driver, 17-year-old Halatau Naitoko, was caught in the crossfire and killed by a police bullet.
Speaking outside court, his lawyer Roger Chambers said McDonald was very upset when he found out someone had died as a result of his actions.
"He wrote a letter to the family of Halatau and expressed his regrets. I think he's very sad about the whole incident, and I don't know if he's come to terms with it.
"I think it's actually quite a proper thing to do. Drugs create huge emotional difficulties for people, but that just shows the nature of the person.
"I only heard that he'd written a letter in the hope that it would be delivered to Halatau's family, but I do not know if it was received," Mr Chambers said.
He added that many people who were involved in the incident on January 23, such as car owners and property owners, needed to be spoken to before an agreed statement of facts could be drawn up.
Mr Chambers said was a methamphetamine user and had no memory for five days leading up to the incident.
McDonald has been charged with 29 offences including 10 of using a firearm against police.
The woman police say was an accomplice of McDonald in the lead-up to the shooting, appeared in court yesterday and admitted five charges.
Margaret Patricia Iris Mann, 19, pleaded guilty to the charges when she appeared in the Waitakere District Court today, a court official said.
Three of the charges - unlawfully getting into a stolen vehicle, failing to stop for police and driving while forbidden - related to events on January 23 when she allegedly acted as an accomplice of McDonald.
Two charges she admitted today - another of driving while forbidden and one of giving false details - related to earlier events.
Mann was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the Waitakere District Court on April 24.
Police allege Mann was driving the stolen blue Toyota Corsa in the West Auckland suburb of Glen Eden when McDonald first aimed a gun at police. They said Mann was caught by police after the pair ditched the car.
- NZHERALD STAFF & NZPA
