January 13, 2013

Youth refused bail on murder charge

By David Clarkson

A 16-year-old youth charged with the murder of Ashburton mother Sina Nerisa Solomona has been refused bail at a Youth Court sitting in Ashburton.

Judge Robert Murfitt considered bail at the afternoon sitting which was attended by family, police, and media. A large number of family and associates also gathered quietly outside the Court House in Baring Square.

The youth?s name remains suppressed under the Youth Court media coverage rules and the judge imposed some extra suppressions.

The youth is charged with murdering 22-year-old Solomona, who was found lying in a pool of blood at a home in Cass Street, Ashburton, in mid-December. She had a three-year-old daughter.

The youth originally appeared in the Youth Court in Christchurch last month and was remanded in custody to today, when defence counsel Elizabeth Bulger applied for his release on bail.

She told Judge Murfitt that conditions could be imposed ? including surrendering his passport and not applying for travel documents ? to allow his release. She was unable to comment on a Crown assertion that the proposed bail address was the home of a Crown witness.

She opposed an application to give the police more time to file their briefs of evidence ahead of a judge considering the case and deciding whether it should be sent for trial.

Prosecutor Andrew McRae told the court the Crown opposed his release on bail and asked for him to be remanded in custody. He confirmed that a proposed witness did live at the address where he would reside while on bail.

He said the investigation was still under way with forensic examinations and witness statements being taken and sought an extension of three of four weeks for the filing of the police?s evidence.

He sought extra time because of the extensive investigation and forensic analysis which was still being done. ?The analysis of those exhibits is going to be important,? he said.

Judge Murfitt said that there was ?powerful public interest? in cases of this type in ensuring that the evidence was properly prepared and presented. But he said the trial could still be scheduled and would not be delayed even if the extra time were granted, and then allowed the extension to February 25.

He noted that the proposed bail address was only 2km from the scene of the alleged murder, and relatives of Solomona lived within the district.

He said that there was justification in the youth being held in custody in the meantime in spite of the ?legislative bias? in favour of granting bail to young persons.

The youth was remanded in custody to March 4, to appear again in Ashburton.

Both the defence and the Crown sought suppression of some aspects of the discussion in court and Judge Murfitt made that order.

A relative of the youth told him to ?stay strong? from the public seating as he was taken back to the cells.