A neighbour of gunman Jan Molenaar who took photos of hero civilian Lenny Holmwood staggering from the house under gunfire, will face Napier District Court today, charged with obstruction.
Mike Kemp told the Herald yesterday that police arrested him on Saturday for obstruction - he refused to go inside when taking photos during the height of the gunfire.
They later returned with a search warrant, for alleged criminal nuisance, and confiscated his camera so it could be used in their inquiries.
"They wanted to check to see if there was any evidence on it," he said.
When the man attended Napier Police Station yesterday to make a statement in relation to the gun siege, he was told no charges had been filed.
But police said he was still obliged to turn up for his court appearance today.
The man said his two flatmates had also been charged, even though one of them never left the house.
Police did not return calls last night.
* Fact v Fiction
Details released by the police yesterday make it clear that the Weekend Herald's front-page report on Saturday was right.
Despite widespread claims in other media on Saturday morning that we were wrong and Jan Molenaar was still alive, it is clear that he died on Friday afternoon.
His last communications with his partner and brother were just after 1pm, and a single gunshot was heard at 1.28pm.
From that time there was no further sign of life from the house through phone contact or shooting. As the Herald correctly reported, the police believed him to be dead.
