Two men have been arrested and charged for the killing of Radio NZ journalist Phillip Cottrell:
A 17-year-old youth had the support of his family who called out “mama loves you” and “take care boy” when he appeared in court today charged with the brutal murder of a Wellington journalist.
The teenager, who cannot be identified, appeared before Judge Carrie Wainwright in Wellington District Court this afternoon alongside his co-accused, Nicho Waipuka, 19.
The Lower Hutt teenagers are accused of murdering Radio New Zealand journalist Phillip Cottrell.
Cottrell, 43, died in hospital on Sunday after he was attacked in central Wellington early on Saturday on his way home from work as a bulletins editor at the state broadcaster.
Defence lawyer Mike Antunovich successfully argued for name and image suppression for the 17-year-old.
Mr Antunovich said many family members were yet to be told of the charge against the youth, who will reappear in court on Friday.
I find the weasel excuses of family members not being told about an arrest pathetic. Phillip Cottrell’s family have had to be told of his death and there was no hiding from that. Name Suppression shouldn’t be available for silly reasons like that. It is also clear his family were in the court calling out that his “mama” loved him.
The strangest decision though is this from the Judge:
Waipuka was remanded in custody without plea until December 21.
His lawyer, Rob Stevens, successfully argued that Waipuka’s image should be suppressed but said his name had already been widely published so there was little to be gained in seeking name suppression.
This is utterly ridiculous. The police issued a mug-shot to media the day before and his image was published in every daily paper, and on multiple websites. The judges suppression order now means the Police have broken the law. His image is on 3News several times, TVNZ, Voxy, GayNZ, Scoop, NewstalkZB, Otago Daily Times, not to mention the offenders own Facebook Page.
Judges wonder why people mock them, but when you see utterly ridiculous suppression orders like this one you really have to wonder if they are actually propoerly qualified to make these judgements.
