- Home
- What?s?on
- Observations
- Police?watch
- Home?security
- Advice
- Legal?directory
- Search?archives
- Contacts
Alleged 'groper' arrested for bail breach
A man accused of being the ?Port Hills groper? has been arrested for breaching his bail conditions after he was found on Huntsbury Hill.
The man, a 63-year-old refugee, appeared in the Christchurch District Court today charged with the breach of bail conditions imposed at?a hearing?on April 15.
At that hearing, Judge Gary MacAskill said he had been concerned about the possibility that there could be further offending. He imposed conditions barring the man from going on to the Port Hills.
He believed that the man?s family would keep a watch on his behaviour. ?I imagine his own family will be alert to ensure that no opportunity arises.?
The man has been charged with 15 indecent assaults on women exercising along near the Rapaki and Mt Vernon tracks, on the Port Hills, and in St Martins. Police allege he grabbed, groped, and licked the women.
The man denies all the charges and is due to appear at a pre-hearing session tomorrow, as the case makes its way to a defended hearing.
He has been granted interim name suppression. His country of origin cannot be reported, but the court has allowed media to report that he is a Moslem.
Defence counsel Moana Cole said the bail conditions included not going on to Huntsbury Avenue ? where he was found ? but she was not sure he understood that. He knew he was not allowed to go walking in other parts of the hills. The man cannot speak or read English.
At his appearance today, Judge Joanna Maze considered the bail application. While the discussion was going on, the man had an asthma attack and collapsed in the dock while taking a dose from an inhaler.
The judge remanded him on renewed bail until the pre-hearing conference tomorrow, when an interpreter will be arranged. Ms Cole said she would contact the man?s son to explain the situation, and the bail conditions, to him.
