Names of Te Teko murder accused and his alleged victim suppressed

Te Teko murder accused remanded in custody when he appeared via AVL in Tauranga Distict Court. File / Photo

The identity of a man accused of murdering a woman in Te Teko and his alleged victim must be kept secret for now.

The man faced a murder charge when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court today via an audio-visual link from the Rotorua police custody hub.

A police spokeswoman earlier said police were alerted to an incident about 11.15am yesterday .

Police opposed the defendant being granted bail.

Community Magistrate Lesley Jensen said any bail application would need to be heard by a district court judge.

Duty solicitor lawyer Dafydd Malcolm from Rotorua said he had given the defendant a copy of the draft summary of facts and the initial police disclosure.

Malcolm said until the defendant was granted legal aid and assigned legal counsel it was appropriate that interim name suppression was granted to him.

Crown solicitor Anna Pollett consented to the request.

She also sought interim name suppression for the defendant's alleged victim until the formal identification process was able to be completed by the police.

She said a post mortem was due to be conducted tomorrow.

Pollett also asked for a Section 38 mental health screening report to be ordered.

Community Magistrate Jensen granted the suppression orders and also called for the mental health fitness screening report.

She remanded the defendant in custody by consent to next appear in the Tauranga High Court on June 24 for a possible bail hearing.

No plea has been entered to the murder charge.