Rongopai Pene in the Rotorua District Court via audio visual link. Photo / File
Rongopai Pene in the Rotorua District Court via audio visual link. Photo / File
An important court report needed on a man accused of following a woman while she went running in Rotorua's Puarenga Park has caused a delay in a Rotorua District Court case.
Rongopai Pene, 21, appeared in the Rotorua District Court today via audio-visual link, facing four charges.
He is yetto plead to the charges, which normally happens before the second court appearance. However, his lawyer, Alistair Burns, said the report needed to be done before his client entered pleas.
Judge Philip Recordon noted there was a hold up with the report writer, but that could now be done on November 16. Allowing time for the report to be written, Judge Recordon remanded Pene in custody to reappear on December 4 via audio visual link when pleas must be entered.
Pene is charged with accosting a woman on a walking track on September 21 knowing his conduct was likely reasonably to frighten the woman.
He is also charged with three counts of burglary: entering a building on Pukuatua St on September 27, entering a building on Elizabeth St on September 25; and entering a building on Lytton St on September 21.
