Kaitaia backpackers owner Michael Harris. PHOTO: PETER DE GRAAF
Kaitaia backpackers owner Michael Harris. PHOTO: PETER DE GRAAF
A Kaitaia backpackers owner accused of indecently assaulting and photographing young men who were staying at his lodge has been denied bail.
UK-born Michael Harris, 56, was arrested earlier this month after police raided his Main Street Lodge in Kaitaia, which he bought in 2011, after a complaint by amale tourist that he suspected something had happened to him while staying at the lodge.
Harris was arrested and remanded on bail.
He reappeared in Kaitaia District Court where he was again remanded in custody until October 23.
Harris faces one charge of stupefying a person with intent to facilitate a crime; 10 counts of indecent assault; 15 counts of making an intimate visual recording (photograph) and 15 of possessing an intimate visual recording.
The charges are alleged to have occurred between January 2011 and this month.
The public gallery of the courthouse was packed for Harris' second appearance, with supporters of the man included as well as many media representatives.
Harris' lawyer Doug Bailie applied for bail for his client, but Judge Murray Hunt denied bail.
