One of two men accused of murdering security guard Ramandeep Singh in West Auckland last year has lost name suppression.
Lorenzo Tangira, a 27-year-old labourer, was arrested a week before Christmas, soon after the body of the 25-year-old Armourguard patrolman was found at the Royal Reserve carpark in Massey.
Tangira is set to go to trial in June 2025 alongside a 17-year-old co-defendant who continues to have name suppression. A hearing has been scheduled for next month to determine if the teenager’s suppression should remain in place.
During a brief hearing in the High Court at Auckland today, defence lawyer Vivienne Feyen told Justice Graham Lang that her client no longer sought name suppression. Justice Lang ordered that the temporary suppression order lapse immediately.
During Tangira’s first court appearance last year in Waitākere District Court, Feyen had sought interim suppression so she could advise her new client’s family of the circumstances.
Singh moved to New Zealand in 2018 to pursue higher education on a student visa after completing his schooling in India.
An only child, he was born and raised in the village of Kotli Shahpur in Gurdaspur, Punjab.
In a post on social media, Armourguard previously said its community “has been shattered” by the sudden loss of Singh, who leaves behind a broken family and friends in mourning.
“For his parents, he wasn’t just a son; he was their only son, the pride of their lives.
“His death serves as a reminder of the risks our security personnel face every day when they go to work.”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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