Blanket Man flown home

DEREK FLYNN/The Marlborough Express

RETURNING: Wellington's Ben Hana, widely known as Blanket Man, turned up in Blenheim this week.

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Wellington street celebrity Blanket Man has flown back to the capital, showered and wearing a pair of dark blue overalls.

Constable Michelle Stagg, of Blenheim, said a Marlborough Aero Club member flew Blanket Man, real name Ben Hana, to Wellington with a police escort about 10.30am on Wednesday.

He wore the overalls for the flight, but police gave him back his blanket.

Miss Stagg said Hana had been remanded in custody in Blenheim and was to appear in the Wellington District Court yesterday.

He arrived in Marlborough on June 4 after a friend, Richard Hayden, of Blenheim, paid for his ticket on the Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton.

The trip was believed to be the first time Hana had been to the South Island.

Hayden was arrested for breaching a curfew soon after the pair got off the ferry in Picton early last Thursday morning.

Hayden and Hana were then taken to the Blenheim District Court, where Hayden appeared on a charge of breaching bail.

While sitting outside the courthouse waiting for Hayden, Hana was arrested and charged with possessing cannabis, disorderly behaviour and failing to appear in the Wellington District Court on June 3.

A policeman made a special delivery of dark blue overalls for Hana, who prefers to wear only a blanket and a loincloth, to wear when he appeared before justice of the peace Julie McKendry. However, Hana wore his blanket and had the overalls wrapped around his neck.

- The Marlborough Express