In Tauranga Distric Court

A Tauranga father who beat his 4-year-old daughter after she soiled herself, and then confessed to what he had done, has lost his bid to keep his identity a secret. In the Tauranga District Court on Wednesday, Kahui Jason Roberts, 34, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on a child, was sentenced to a year's supervision and 100 hours' community service.

Judge Paul Geoghegan refused to grant him final name suppression after finding there were insufficient grounds to warrant such an order.

On October 26 last year, the solo father had become so enraged on finding his daughter in the toilet with faeces on her hands, legs and clothing he dragged into the bathroom, held her under a cold shower and repeatedly slapped her.

Roberts slapped her about seven times on her bottom, the back of her legs, back and face while she was screaming and struggling to get free.

He also told her he did not want her. The beating left marks and bruises on the victim's face and body.

A stressed Roberts told staff at his daughter's kindergarten what he had done, saying he did not want to become the sort of statistic seen on TV and asked for help.

Roberts has previously refused to discuss his case with the Bay of Plenty Times.

Not guilty plea

A Welcome Bay man accused of helping a masked armed robber try to evade capture by hiding a bag of items in the roof of his house will defend the allegation at trial.

Rowan Arana Ngati, 27, in the Tauranga District Court yesterday, pleaded not guilty to one count of being an accessory to the fact of aggravated robbery by knowingly assisting Jesse-Rikhi Muller to avoid arrest and or conviction.

Ngati is accused of helping 26-year-old Muller after he robbed the Arataki Superette with an imitation gun on July 19 last year, stealing $1452 in cash and 28 tobacco packets.

Muller was jailed for three years and seven months on October 11, which included time for other offences, including burglary and theft of a dog.

No trial date is yet proposed and Ngati was further bailed. His next court appearance is on April 12 when it is expected a trial date will be set.

Identity remains secret

The identity of a Tauranga company director accused of more than $200,000 of tax evasion offences and perjury remains a secret for now.

When the man was arraigned for trial in the Tauranga District Court yesterday, he pleaded not guilty to 32 counts of tax evasion and one count of perjury, through his lawyer Bill Nabney. Mr Nabney successfully argued for interim name suppression, citing sensitive business matters.

He told Judge Thomas Ingram it was hoped most of the charges could be resolved after more discussions with Inland Revenue, negating the need for a trial.

Inland Revenue alleges the defendant failed to file tax returns or provided incomplete or misleading returns, and also failed to provide GST returns over several years.

The tax offending is alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2007.

Some of the charges relate to the man's business income and others to his personal income tax obligations from wages and other payments he received from other sources.

The perjury charge relates to an allegation the defendant deliberately lied to an IRD officer during an interview in August 2009 when asked whether he had any more financial documents in his possession.

No trial date has yet been set down. Judge Ingram said the issue of name suppression would be revisited at the man's next court appearance on February 28.