Police have made a public appeal for sightings of Mei Han Chong, The Electoral Commission launches full check for errors, Northern Hawke’s Bay hit with heavy flooding and leaders arrive for the annual Pacific Islands forum.
Video / Lydia Lewis / Corey Fleming / RNZ
A South Island lodge owner whose daughter is jointly charged with murdering an Auckland pensioner has argued naming the woman could torpedo the reputation of his business and cause his family to be shunned by their small town.
The woman is accused alongside Sergio Williams with murdering Herbert Bradley, 70, at his Upper Queen St apartment complex on August 23 and the pair are set to stand trial next year.
He was found bleeding from stab wounds inside the complex and could not be saved.
Williams has abandoned his bid for suppression. But the woman, aged 26, pursued ongoing name suppression via her lawyer Lester Cordwell at a High Court hearing in Auckland on Wednesday.
Justice Pheroze Jagose rejected Cordwell’s arguments, supported by an affidavit from her father, that the publication of her name would hurt his small town lodge and cause the community to turn on the family.
The woman was in a state of distress during her first appearance via audio-visual link in the Auckland District Court in August. Photo / George Block
While the Judge declined the application for ongoing suppression, the woman still cannot be named pending notice of whether she will launch an appeal.
Cordwell said her name was intertwined with a lodge in an isolated South Island town and it was the only source of income for her father.
The last few years had been tough for the lodge, and an association with an alleged murderer in Auckland could cause tourists and booking agents to shun the business, he argued.
“This could be the last straw for this lodge,” Cordwell said.
Police outside the complex where Herbert Bradley died on August 23.
Her father’s affidavit said the family could be excluded or isolated by the small community if their link to the murder emerged.
Justice Jagose said there was no evidence anyone would draw the connection or there would be a reduction in business at the lodge.
“That’s pure speculation.”
The Judge said Cordwell’s arguments did not meet the threshold for extreme hardship to her father that was claimed to meet the threshold required for continued suppression.
“That’s what happens when here are criminal proceedings involving members of one’s family,” Justice Jagose said.
Sergio Williams during his first appearance in the Auckland District Court in August. Photo / George Block
The Judge dismissed the application, but the suppression order was stayed to allow time for Cordwell to take instructions on an appeal.
Following a hearing on September 26, Justice Kiri Tahana granted the woman electronically monitored bail to her mother’s home in the South Island.
At her first appearance in the Auckland District Court the day after her arrest, the woman was crying and in a state of distress.
Their trial is set to begin on November 11, 2024, and is expected to last three weeks.
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.
