25 Jun 2009

Motorway woman fails to appear in court

6:36 pm on 25 June 2009

An arrest warrant has been issued for a woman involved in events leading up to the fatal police shooting of a courier driver on an Auckland motorway in January.

Margaret Mann, 19, was due to be sentenced at Waiktakere District Court on Thursday, but failed to appear.

Ms Mann had already admitted nine charges, including driving while prohibited, unlawfully getting into a vehicle and failing to stop for police.

Police say Ms Mann was with Stephen McDonald, who was later pursued on the north-western motorway on 23 January.

Halatau Naitoko, 17, was mistakenly shot dead by police during the incident.

Mr McDonald last appeared in court on Tuesday facing 36 charges and was remanded in custody.

Police have said no one will be charged over Mr Naitoko's death.