Victim’s family ‘frustrated’ by delay

The family of a Taranaki man who died after a shooting are frustrated with delays associated with a report into the mental health of his accused murderer, a court heard.

Yesterday, Colin James Thompson’s case was called in the High Court at New Plymouth, almost four months after the matter was put on hold to see if his mental health improved.

Facing a murder charge, the

68-year-old has been in custody since February 6, following the death of South Taranaki grandfather Maurice John Riddle. Riddle,

78, died after being shot at a Mountain Rd address in Eltham.

In May, the High Court was told Thompson was unfit to plead or take part in the court proceedings because of his mental health issues.

Two psychiatric reports supported this opinion and a reference was previously made in court to a CT scan of Thompson’s brain that indicated cerebral vascular disease, which is linked to cognitive impairment.

A High Court judge granted a further remand to see whether Thompson’s health improved and requested an updated report be prepared.

However, this had not been completed due to the previous psychiatric reports not being made available to the doctor tasked with providing the new information.

A frail-looking Thompson appeared in person at yesterday’s hearing, which was attended by members of Riddle’s family and supporters of the accused.

Previous media applications to photograph Thompson have been declined.

Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke said the Riddle family had their ‘‘frustrations’’ regarding the delays in the case.

‘‘To be frank I think there may have been a dropping of the ball here,’’ Clarke said of the new report’s unavailability.

If the outcome of the assessment finds Thompson unfit to stand trial, a hearing under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act will be required.

In order to keep the case moving, Justice Robert Dobson set a tentative date of October 26 for that purpose and remanded Thompson back into custody until then.

However, if the matter proceeds to trial, a week-long hearing has been set down to begin in the High Court on March 18, 2019.