Tokoroa police confident murder accused's family safe

The accused was met by a barrage of abuse when he arrived at court on Tuesday. Picture / Greg Bowker

Police investigating the murder of Tokoroa school teacher Lois Dear are confident the community will not lash out at family members of the man accused of her murder, who are moving to the town.

The 29-year-old brother of the accused said his family were in shock in the wake of Monday night's arrest for the murder of Ms Dear, 66, The Waikato Times reported today.

Ms Dear was found beaten to death in her Strathmore School classroom on July 16.

"It's ripped me apart," he said.

The man went to the Tokoroa District Court yesterday morning to see his brother, 23, who was being escorted by police into court amid a barrage of abuse from more than 100 people gathered outside.

A bystander said she was a caregiver for Ms Dear's father, and had come to let people know who had been arrested.

She yelled out the man's name as he was escorted to the court. If anyone in the South Waikato town did not know who had been arrested, they did now, she said.

"The whole town is angry," she said, saying she did not want to be named.

The accused's brother said he was already in the process of moving to Tokoroa with his partner and two young children and while his brother's arrest "made things a bit more complicated", the family was determined to push on, the newspaper reported.

The man said he had pulled his children out of school after he heard about his brother's arrest.

Detective Inspector Garth Bryan said he was unaware of the man's plans to move to the town but said he would "like to think they are very safe".

"They are victims in this too."

Mr Bryan said he had a lot of sympathy for the family of the accused.

The family of the man had expressed apologies to the police, to be passed on to Ms Dear's family, he said.

While some family members of the accused were interested in meeting with Ms Dear's family it was a "bit early at this stage to do it".

Mr Bryan said the investigation was focused on speaking with people today and the team were happy with the arrest made.

A memorial service for Ms Dear will be held at Tokoroa Apostolic Church tomorrow.

- NZPA