Murder victim’s son assaulted cameraman
The son of Ashburton WINZ shooting victim Peggy Turuhira Noble has admitted assaulting a cameraman outside the Christchurch Court House after Wednesday’s verdicts in the murder trial.
Alexander Ian Bishop, 44, admitted the assault charge before Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch District Court today, ahead of flying home to Taupo on Saturday.
The incident took place outside the Court House about 4pm on March 9, soon after the High Court jury had found Russell John Tully, 49, guilty of the murder of Bishop’s mother. He was also convicted of another murder and an attempted murder.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Dave Murray said the cameraman was not filming at the time. Bishop walked away from him but then came back and told the cameraman he was “going to have a go at him”. He then punched the cameraman, causing him to drop the camera on the ground. The amount of damage was still being assessed.
Defence counsel Andrew Bailey said Bishop had been attending the Tully trial for three weeks when the assault happened shortly after the verdicts had been delivered.
Bishop was on his way to the Victim Support offices when he saw the camera was raised which indicated to him there was filming going on. He said he had pushed the camera which had then hit the cameraman’s head.
Judge Neave agreed to transfer the case to Taupo for sentencing on March 31. By then the police expect to have a report on how much damage was done to the video camera. A restorative justice conference may also take place during the remand.
Category: News
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