Murder accused remanded to hospital

A Seacliff man charged with murder has been returned to Wakari Hospital for two days, although he was earlier discharged.

If the 59-year-old man, whose name is suppressed, could not remain in hospital on remand he would have to be held in prison as he had nowhere else to go, counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr QC said during a hearing in the High Court at Dunedin yesterday.

It was the defendant's first appearance in a public court since his arrest over the fatal shooting of Sharon Diane Comerford (54) at her Coast Rd home north of Dunedin last month. He was remanded by a judge at a bedside hearing at Dunedin Hospital on April 6.

When he left Wakari Hospital for court yesterday, the man was given a blister pack and a plaster for his face and health authorities wished him well, Mrs Ablett-Kerr told Justice Cameron Mander. The man's face was heavily bandaged as he stood in the dock.

Because of concerns about whether he was in a position to be discharged, it was agreed he should go back to Wakari Hospital for inquiries to be made about his remand situation. Justice Mander remanded the man on a 24-hour curfew to appear in court again tomorrow.

 

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