Man in court over kidnap case
A third person charged with kidnapping a Paihia man and allegedly forcing him to withdraw money from an ATM is also accused of shooting at police when they turned up at his home.
The 31-year-old Mid North man, who has interim name suppression, appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last week facing charges from events at Paihia’s ASB Bank on November 30 last year.
He was also charged in relation to an incident the following month where he allegedly shot at police when they visited his home to investigate the kidnapping complaint. The officers were not injured.
Together with Paihia couple Cayne Brown-Martin, 22, and Billy-Joe Witehira, 35, the man is jointly charged with kidnapping, unlawful possession of a pistol and unlawful possession of a shotgun.
He faces one extra charge of kidnapping and two charges of wounding with intent to cause bodily harm, another charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one charge of using a firearm against police. Witehira faces an extra charge of discharging a pistol and Brown-Martin a charge of dangerous driving.
The accused appeared by audio-visual link from prison on Wednesday, when he had expected to apply for bail. His application was, however, rescheduled for the Whanga¯rei District Court yesterday.
He is due back in the Kaikohe District Court on other unrelated charges on April 20 and May 7. Those charges include driving with sustained loss of traction, driving while disqualified for a third or subsequent time, driving with excess alcohol and possession of a firearm without a licence.
The trio’s alleged attempt to make the victim withdraw money from an ATM unravelled when alert bank staff noticed something was wrong. Both Brown-Martin and Witehira have had bail applications refused. All three accused are understood to be gang members.