Teens charged with murder over Hawke's Bay death

Police were called about 9.30am on Monday after the body was discovered in a roadside drain beside Matahorua Rd. Photo / File

A 17-year-old girl is the second teen to be charged with the murder of a man found in a roadside drain in Hawke's Bay.

She is also charged with robbing the deceased of his car and two cellphones, immediately after causing grievous bodily harm to him. ​

The girl appeared in Hastings District Court today. Represented by defence lawyer Matthew Pheps, she was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody to appear again in the High Court at Napier on January 29.

A male, 17, had already been charged with murder after the discovery of a body in the remote area of Tutira on Monday.

Police are appealing to the public for any sightings of a gold Toyota Passo – registration JGQ144 - which was driven between Hastings and Tutira on Sunday evening and around the Hawke's Bay area throughout Monday.

Police were called about 9.30am on Monday after the body was discovered in a roadside drain beside Matahorua Rd, west of Putorino and 6-7km from the road's junction with State Highway 2 to the south at Tutira.

The body was understood to be male, with significant injuries and unlikely to have been in the shallow drain any longer than overnight.

It was understood to have been discovered by a milk tanker driver who could see into the drain from an elevated height, unlike drivers of cars.

One resident said he'd had a couple of youngsters visiting yesterday. "They went for a run down there," he said. "I'm sure they would have seen something if it was there then."

The sealed road is the route to the popular Shine Falls, but hadn't been particularly busy over the weekend, said the resident, who did not want to be publicly identified.

Hawke's Bay Sheep Dog Trial Association president and Matahorua Rd farmer Clark Chrystal said he had heard a siren and found police stopping vehicles on the road.

He had seen the body from a distance and said it appeared to be male but he couldn't be sure. There didn't appear to be any vehicle nearby which could be linked to the body.

The stretch of road is about 50km from central Napier.