Seacliff accused remanded to hospital

Armed police were called to the scene last month. Photo: ODT

A Seacliff man charged with murder has been returned to Wakari Hospital in Dunedin for two days, although he was earlier discharged.

If the 59-year-old man could not remain in the hospital on remand, he would have to be held in prison as he had nowhere else to go, his lawyer Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, said during a High Court hearing in Dunedin today.

It was the man's first appearance in a public court since his arrest over the fatal shooting of Sharon Diane Comerford (54) at her Coast Rd home in Seacliff, near Dunedin, last month.

The man appeared at a bedside hearing at Dunedin Hospital on April 6.

When he left the hospital for court today the man was given a blister pack and a plaster for his face, and health authorities wished him well, Mrs Ablett-Kerr told Justice Mander.

The man's face was bandaged as he stood in the dock.

Because of concerns about whether the accused was in a position to be discharged, Justice Mander agreed there should be a two-day remand back to Wakari Hospital so inquiries could be made about the man's situation.

The man would be on a 24-hour curfew there and reappear in court on Thursday. His name remained suppressed.