Two men charged with seriously assaulting Wanaka man Kahu Vincent on May 9 have continued name suppression - at least for now.
The two, aged 34 and 39, appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday via audio visual link from Invercargill Prison.
Both face a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm and one is also charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice by threatening to kill a third man if he spoke to the police.
One of the men sought bail, which was declined by Judge Michael Turner.
However, he said the man was still able to apply for electronically monitored bail, which might or might not be granted.
Through their counsels, Hugo Young and Fiona Guy Kidd, both men sought continued suppression of their names.
Judge Turner decided their names should be made public but Mr Young and Ms Guy Kidd asked for continued suppression until 10am today so they could seek instructions about whether to appeal the decision, to which Judge Turner agreed.
He remanded the men in custody to appear in the Queenstown District Court on June 22.
All details of the hour-long discussion at yesterday's court hearing about bail and name suppression were suppressed by Judge Turner, but he said the outcome of the hearing could be published.
Mr Vincent (27), who has two children, suffered serious head injuries at the Wanaka Night 'n Day store at 3am on Saturday, May 9.
About a dozen family and friends were at yesterday's court hearing.
Afterwards, Joram Makuru, whose sister Jade is Mr Vincent's partner, said Mr Vincent was still in Dunedin Hospital in a coma. Jade was at his bedside, as were family members from Wellington and Christchurch.
There seemed to be some improvement in Mr Vincent's condition, Mr Makuru (23) said.
''Every day there are small steps, baby steps ... I play the guitar to him and his heart rate slows. Personally, I think he knows we're there. His eyelids open, but there is no visual recognition.''
Last week family members were told there was a possibility Mr Vincent would be brain dead, he said.
''But CT scans of his brain [late last week] showed the blood clots at the back of his head ... weren't stopping blood from getting into the inner parts of his brain, so that was positive. To go from thinking he might be brain dead to that was absolutely fantastic.''
Doctors were weaning Mr Vincent off the drugs keeping him in a coma and hoped to wake him up in the next few days, Mr Makuru said.
Mr Makuru said Mr Vincent was well known in the Wanaka area as a gibstopper and had given him a home and a job when he was going through a difficult period in his life.
''It's been really tough seeing him like this. He has looked after me for so long.''
Mr Makuru said supporters wanted to be in court to see and hear developments first-hand.
They did not care whether the two accused had continued name suppression.
