The man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Milane has been granted interim name suppresion.
The 26-year-old appeared in Auckland District Court, where Judge Evangelos Thomas granted the 20 day interim order.
The accused's defence lawyer, Ian Brookie, argued for name suppression on the grounds of a "fair trial".
"A lot has happened in the last two days."
Ian argued he needed further time to gather information on his client as investigations were ongoing.
The police prosecutor opposed the interim name suppression and shared the Millane family's wishes for Grace Millane's accused killer to be named.
Today's court appearance following a week long investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old Grace.
Grace was last seen on the eve of her 22nd birthday. She was seen on the night of December 1 going into CityLife Hotel with a man.
The body remains at the scene and is yet to be formally identified, but police believe it's the backpacker.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard says the police investigation into Grace's death would continue for some time, as they pieced together what happened after she was last seen entering a central Auckland hotel more than a week ago.
A missing person report was received on Wednesday for the 22-year-old after her family had not heard from her for several days.
Grace's father has arrived in Auckland Friday to help police in the search operation.
David Millane was met by police at the airport and is being supported by them.
During a press conference on Friday, David struggled to hold in his emotions as he told media of his worry for his daughter.
"Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun loving, family orientated daughter. She's usually in daily contact with family on social media," he said on Friday.
"I would just like to take this opportunity to appeal to anybody who has seen, spoken to, or come into contact with Grace over the last few days, to come forward with any detail, no matter how small, and contact the investigation team."
-Additional reporting by Stuff and RNZ.
1 comment
Tragedy
Posted on 10-12-2018 14:51 | By morepork
As a Kiwi, I feel demeaned by this, but much more important is how this poor girl's father must be feeling. There can be no excuses; what parent would expect NZ to be a dangerous destination for their child? I wish the Police every success in their prosecution even though it can never ameliorate the pain that Mr. Millane will have for the rest of his life. Should the name be published? Probably not, at this point, in the interests of seeing that a fair trail is obtained, but that must also be hard for the parents. Like the rest of the nation, I can only offer Mr. Millane sincere and heartfelt condolences, and urge all of us to raise our game in protecting the people who come to visit us, just as we should our own communities. Sad that it has come to this.
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