Suppression over fatal assault

A man has appeared in court on a charge of assault, following an incident at a Hamilton property on Wednesday, after which the person who was assaulted died.

The 26-year-old man appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday, where he was granted interim name suppression until his next appearance on January 7.

He was remanded in custody and without plea until that date, and his next appearance will be by audio-visual link.

It is not yet known if any further charges will be laid by police.

The 48-year-old victim was assaulted at a Storey Avenue property on Boxing Day, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Greene said.

‘‘At 6.45pm police received a report that a man had been assaulted by a person known to him in the suburb of Forest Lake,’’ police said.

‘‘He died soon afterward.’’ Greene said that police would conduct a scene examination. A post-mortem would also be carried out.

On Wednesday, neighbours told Stuff that paramedics tried to resuscitate somebody, to no avail.

A man and woman were seen being taken away by police while family cried and embraced on the footpath outside the property.

In court yesterday, the defendant’s counsel Truc Tran asked for interim name suppression for his client, which was granted by Judge Simon Menzies.

Tran said publication of the defendant’s name at this point could potentially prejudice his right to a fair trial.

There had been much outrage on social media that the police had ‘‘only’’ charged the man with assault, which could weigh against him.

‘‘At this stage we don’t know what the cause of death is.’’

Police remained neutral on the suppression application.

‘‘It may be that there are background circumstances and issues that put a different light on things,’’ Judge Menzies said.

Anyone else who witnessed the incident on Storey Avenue or has information should contact police on 07 859 7807 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.