A former gang president who was sentenced to life imprisonment last year, more than three decades after the violent death of Red Fox Tavern publican Christopher Bush, will not be released from prison on electronically monitored bail while awaiting his appeal.
Mark Joseph Hoggart, 62, sat in a prison holding cell today as he appeared via audio-video feed in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Mark Woolford, who oversaw the seven-week jury trial last year.
Hoggart, who was on bail prior to the guilty verdict, is currently 2 years and eight months into his 10-year non-parole period for the life sentence. An appeal of the verdict and sentence was filed in May 2021, and the Court of Appeal is set to review his case in Wellington next February.
During a hearing today, much of which the media is barred from reporting due to the Bail Act, lawyer Quentin Duff argued that his client be released in the interim.