Tauranga rubbish bins: 83-year-old accused of damaging bins by painting over te reo Māori

A man was granted interim name suppression when he appeared in court accused of intentionally damaging 16 Tauranga City Council rubbish bins. Photo / Alex Cairns

The identity of an 83-year-old man accused of destroying 16 rubbish bins in Tauranga has been suppressed.

The defendant faced a charge of intentional damage when he appeared in court before Community Magistrate Shaun Cole today.

Court charging documents reveal police allege the defendant “destroyed” 16 Tauranga City Council rubbish bins on October 3, intending to cause loss to the council.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment.

In court, the defendant’s lawyer, Mark Beech, told the community magistrate he sought a three-week remand on bail for his client without entering a plea, and interim name suppression.

Beech said he sought the suppression order because of reasons that included his client’s age, and because he would probably face backlash if his name were published.

He said his client was entitled to the “presumption of innocence”.

Community Magistrate Cole granted interim name suppression for the reasons given by Beech and bailed the defendant to appear in the Tauranga District Court on November 27.

Rubbish bins which were damaged in Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns

The charges come after Tauranga City Council, in a statement on October 5, claimed a number of rubbish bins had their te reo Māori translations painted over.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She covers mainly police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.