A man and a woman accused of disposing of the dead body of a child at Oamaru almost five years ago have been granted interim name suppression.
The man, 30, and a 23-year-old woman, both from Oamaru, are jointly charged with disposing of the body on or before February 5 in 2011 with intent to conceal the fact of the child's birth.
They appeared together before Judge Michael Crosbie in the Dunedin District Court today.
They entered no plea. Duty lawyer Rochelle Crossman asked for a three-week remand so the defendants could seek independent legal advice.
Police were happy for the two to be remanded at large, prosecutor Acting Sergeant Adrian Cheyne said.
Neither had appeared in court before and, given the "sad and tragic" facts of the alleged offending, Judge Crosbie agreed it was appropriate there should be name suppression on an interim basis at this early stage.
The man and woman were remanded to reappear on December 18.