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Four people accused of assaulting 3-year-old Nia Glassie are appealing against a judge's decision to let news services film them in court, saying they fear for their lives.
Defence lawyers say two have already been assaulted since their arrest a week ago. One appeared in the Rotorua District
Court with a black eye.
Counsel for all four said yesterday they would challenge Judge James Weir's decision to allow the accused to be filmed and photographed at a bail hearing next Wednesday.
The lawyers have until this afternoon to lodge appeals with the High Court.
Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters is holding a meeting with welfare agencies this morning to discuss the problem of child abuse.
Police also plan to give more information about a 12-week-old boy admitted to the Starship hospital with non-accidental head injuries.
A Rotorua Hospital official said police had been told the baby's injuries appeared suspicious after he was admitted to the hospital twice last week.
At a hearing to consider the media applications yesterday, lawyers for the four accused of assaulting Nia claimed that publishing their pictures would endanger their safety and possibly their lives, especially if they were granted bail.
Brian Foote, lawyer for Oriwa Kemp, asked that any images of his client's face be obscured, saying he was concerned for her safety and wellbeing.
"My very real concern is that she may have a death trial. I've never been involved in something where the hostility has been so blatant."
Louis Te Kani, representing Michael Pearson, said he had been approached by a woman on the street who had threatened to shoot the four if they were bailed.
"That's the kind of extremism that's out there in the community," Mr Te Kani said.
He and Michael Curtis' lawyer, Nikki Utting, said their clients had been assaulted, and all the lawyers spoke of seeing the four being threatened in court and police cells.
Michael Curtis appeared in court on Monday with a black eye. But Judge Weir said threats of assault from other prisoners were not a compelling reason to forbid court images of the defendants when their names had been published.
"It's hard to see how TV footage or publication of their photographs is any more risky, prisoners being what they are," he said.
Judge Weir referred to previous judicial decisions, including from the Court of Appeal, which favoured the openness of justice over the privacy of the accused.
He said it was the responsibility of the Corrections Department to ensure prisoners' safety and suggested this could be achieved by segregation.
"It's not the court's job to usurp the prison's function."
Nor did he agree that publication of images would exacerbate any threat if the accused were granted bail.
He said Rotorua had a population of 60,000, which guaranteed "significant anonymity for any individual".
He also questioned whether the public would even remember their faces, saying: "It's the nature of the allegations that are so abhorrent to the public, not the individuals."
And, he said, there was also no merit in a bid by one of the lawyers to have details of yesterday's hearing suppressed.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said investigations in the two suspected abuse cases of Nia and the 12-week-old baby were continuing.
He would not comment on whether arrests were likely in the baby's case, but said fresh details would be revealed today.
Mayor Winters has asked officials from Child, Youth and Family, the Ministry of Social Development, family violence groups, the police and other agencies to attend this morning's meeting.
He says he needs to know if tackling child abuse is a law or resourcing issue.
