Urewera pair denied second bail bid

Tuhoe activists Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara have been denied a second bid for bail while appeals against their sentences are considered.

In a written judgment today, the Court of Appeal said it had heard submissions on the appeal and seen the relevant material, but remained satisfied with its earlier conclusion.

The men were jailed for two and a half years in May after being found guilty in the High Court in Auckland of firearms offences relating to the 2007 Urewera raids.

The Court of Appeal last week heard appeals against their convictions and sentences, as well as those of co-accused Urs Signer and Emily Bailey, who were sentenced to nine months' home detention for firearms charges.

The court reserved its decision.

Iti and Kemara had applied for bail ahead of the hearing, but that was denied by the Court of Appeal last month.

Lawyers Russell Fairbrother and Gretel Fairbrother again applied for bail at the end of last week's hearing.

In written submissions, they argued the earlier bail application had gone ahead without documents that had since become available to them, including the sentencing judge's summing up.

They reiterated their earlier argument that bail should be granted in the interests of justice, given the strength of the appeal.