Kidnapping charge after North Shore stand-off

A man forced out of a North Shore house with tear gas after a five-hour stand-off with armed police has been charged with kidnapping and threatening to kill a teenager after a road rage incident.

Mita McLean, 48, barricaded himself in the ceiling cavity of the house in Birkdale Rd on Wednesday after police went there to arrest him for failing to appear in court and to speak to him about claims he and his partner, Paulina Herewini, 26, had kidnapped a 17-year-old boy.

McLean appeared in the North Shore District Court yesterday. Herewini appeared in court yesterday charged over a breach of bail. McLean was remanded in custody to appear in the Manukau District Court today. Herewini will reappear on June 8.