Man removed from court following scuffle

A man had to be forcibly removed from the public gallery in the High Court at Rotorua this afternoon after he got into a scuffle with a senior detective.

The altercation came during the trial of Courtney Churchward, 18, and a 15-year-old co-accused whose name is suppressed, over the murder of retired Opotiki teacher John Rowe.

Justice Geoffrey Venning was quick to assure jurors the outburst had nothing to do with the trial and instructed them to disregard it.

He adjourned proceedings for the court to break for lunch.

The man, who had been sitting with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, had been spoken to by the woman court crier, but as she moved away he raised his voice and a detective inspector sitting nearby moved towards him.

The man became angry and began to lunge at the officer. He was dragged yelling from the courtroom.

Members of Mr Rowe's family, who have been in the public gallery since the trial began last Monday, were visibly shaken and upset by the outburst.

- NZPA