Two men who kidnapped and assaulted a Dutch honeymooning couple camping in the Bay of Islands will be sentenced in the High Court in Whangarei.
A judge ruled today they would be transferred to the High Court and not sentenced in the District Court in Kaikohe after the
Crown said they wanted one of the men to get preventive detention -- a sentence which could be imposed only in the High Court.
In the District Court at Kaikohe today Judge John Macdonald remanded Christopher Mana Manuel, 27, and Keith Anthony McEwen, 30, to appear again in the High Court in Whangarei on May 31 when a sentencing date would be set.
Last November Manuel and McEwen woke the couple, who were sleeping in their campervan at Haruru Falls, at 10pm.
The men, who posed as policemen, placed a shotgun under the husband's chin as the men demanded money, saying they would rape his wife if he did not comply.
The tourists were handcuffed and the woman was forced to swallow sedatives, and gagged with tape before McEwen sexually assaulted her.
The couple's money card was used to withdraw cash before they were eventually dumped in a paddock and found their way to a farm house to raise the alarm.
Both men had pleaded guilty in Kaikohe District Court earlier this year. Manuel admitted six charges including being a party to sexual violation, and robbery using a shotgun.
McEwen admitted two charges of aggravated robbery, two of kidnapping, five of sexual violation and one each of rape, attempted stupification and using a document.
- NZPA
