Son appears on murder charge

A Tauranga man who allegedly fatally injured his father before trying to swim away from police has made his first court appearance since being charged with murder.

Murray Tait, 45, unemployed, had his earlier charge of assault withdrawn in Tauranga District Court yesterday and was remanded in custody.

On Tuesday evening, Tauranga police charged Tait with murdering David Tait, 76, whom police found with severe head injuries a week before in his Fifteenth Ave home.

He died the next day. Murray Tait reappears in court on July 21.