Suppression for man accused of blackmail

NAME SECRET: A man accused of blackmailing companies has had his name suppressed. PHOTO FILE

A Napier man charged with blackmail after a number of New Zealand companies received threats in July has been granted bail.

The 55-year-old man who appeared before Judge Geoff Rea at Napier District Court facing seven counts of blackmail was also granted interim name suppression until his next court appearance at the end of the month.

The names and nature of the businesses allegedly blackmailed were also suppressed on what crown prosecutor Steve Manning called a "short term" suppression.

Judge Rea granted the bail after the man's lawyer Eric Forster said his client's health needed to be a priority and his client had not shown any intention on acting on the threats he had made.

Detective Inspector Chris Cahill of Auckland City CIB said the investigation into the threats made had been ongoing since July.

He was arrested yesterday following the execution of a search warrant by Police at a Napier address.

"Police made a carefully considered judgement about not making the threat public until this point," Mr Cahill said.

"This decision followed a thorough risk assessment which took into consideration all the information available to Police.

"This decision could have been reviewed at any stage if Police had become aware of any new information which might have changed the risk assessment."

The man could face up to 14 years imprisonment if found guilty of the charges.