Teen in court over home invasion murder

A Kaitaia teenager accused of murdering an elderly widow during a home invasion made a brief appearance in Kaitaia District Court yesterday and was further remanded until next week.

Jameel Job, 17, unemployed of no fixed abode, was to have appeared today but his defence counsel was unavailable because of involvement in a trial.

Counsel Doug Blaikie said last month when Job was first charged with murdering Barbara Julian (70) that although a preliminary psychological report showed his client was competent to instruct a lawyer, the issue of Job's sanity at the time of Mrs Julian's death had not been assessed.

Bail has not been sought during the remand periods and no plea has been entered.

Mrs Julian, a former teacher at a number of Far North schools and known for work in her local community, was found by friends who went to her home during the afternoon of November 4.

She had failed to answer knocks on the door of her Matthews Avenue house while preparing to host a late afternoon social gathering of women at home that day.

Job was allegedly found in the garden of a nearby house and soon afterwards, police said they were not looking for anyone else in relation to Mrs Julian's killing.

They described the incident at the time as a brutal home invasion but have not said how Mrs Julian died.

- NZPA