Pt England homicide victim named, probe into how man on electronic bail was at scene

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Corrections has promised a review after a man who breached his bail conditions by being at the scene of an alleged homicide.

Katie Ham/Stuff

Corrections has promised a review after a man who breached his bail conditions by being at the scene of an alleged homicide.

Police have named the man who died in an alleged homicide in Auckland’s Pt England on Saturday.

He was 32-year-old Charles Anthony Pongi, police confirmed on Wednesday evening.

“Police are continuing to examine a large amount of CCTV footage obtained so far as part of the investigation,” Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said.

“I’m continuing to ask people in the area to continue coming forward to police, as this is providing assistance with our investigation.”

Meanwhile, Stuff can reveal the Department of Corrections will undergo a review to determine how a man in breach of his electronically monitored bail came to be at the scene of the alleged homicide – and why he wasn’t arrested until three days later.

ALEX LIU/STUFF

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On Saturday, Pongi took himself to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition, having suffered gunshot wounds.

He died from his injuries that night, prompting police to launch a homicide investigation.

On Tuesday afternoon, police announced they had arrested a 28-year-old man for breaching his electronically monitored bail conditions.

“We have established his presence at the scene of Saturday’s violence.

“This is by no means the end of the matter, and we anticipate further arrests and charges as our investigation progresses,” Baldwin said.

Now, Corrections have said they will carry out a “full review of this person’s monitoring”.

According to Corrections Regional Commissioner, Sean Mason, public safety is their “top priority”.

“We jointly manage electronically monitored bail with police. Our role is to assess a person […] and manage their compliance with electronic monitoring if electronically monitored bail is granted.

“Police are responsible for taking action regarding any instances of non-compliance with electronically monitored conditions, including when a person absconds,” Mason said.

Due to the ongoing police investigation and Correction’s review, Mason was unable to answer Stuff’s questions about what the man’s bail conditions were, when Corrections were alerted to the fact he had breached his bail and when this information was passed to police.

A person on electronically monitored bail typically wears an electronically monitored anklet and lives at an address approved by the Court.

If someone breaches their bail conditions, the anklet usually triggers an alarm, and Corrections are expected to check whether the person is breaching their bail conditions.

Police have been approached for comment. As of Tuesday afternoon no charges had been laid in relation to the homicide investigation.

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Andrew Coster speaks after the shooting incident in the Auckland CBD.

In July, 24-year-old Matu Reid fatally shot two construction workers at a building site on Queen St in Tāmaki Makaurau’s CBD.

Reid was on electronically monitored bail at the time of the shooting, having been convicted of domestic violence offences in March.

He last reported to Corrections the day before the attack.

An inquiry into how Corrections handled Reid’s home detention by the chief probation officer remains ongoing.

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