Prominent Bay man in court

A prominent Tauranga professional has been accused of a serious assault on a young boy, which allegedly resulted in the child spending two days in hospital.

The man's identity cannot be revealed because of a court-imposed suppression order.

The man faced a charge of assault on a child when he appeared in the Tauranga Registrars' Court yesterday.

A court document reveals police allege the boy, aged under 12, was assaulted in Mount Maunganui last month.

The man's lawyer, Paul Mabey QC, successfully sought interim name and occupation suppression as well as a ban on publication of any details which might lead to the defendant's identity being revealed.

A Tauranga registrar consented to the interim suppression orders being imposed under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Act, on the basis that publication would be likely to cause undue hardship to the defendant at this stage in the criminal proceedings.

Police did not oppose the suppression orders being made.

The defendant, who is yet to plead to the charge, has been remanded on bail and is due back in court this month.

Sources told the Bay of Plenty Times that the assault charge stems from the man's alleged attack on the boy last month.

The source claims the boy was left with red marks around his neck after he alleges he was dragged by his neck up some stairs, and was hospitalised for two days with delayed concussion after he claims his head was slammed on to a wooden table and a concrete floor in a garage.

The boy now can't see properly out of one eye, has a sore back, is suffering headaches and nightmares and has been left "devastated" by the alleged assault, the source told this newspaper.

The police officer in charge of the case did not return phone calls.