Man accused of murder of Nelson police officer Lyn Fleming in court

Friday, 3 January 2025

A man accused of murdering Nelson police officer Lyn Fleming has been remanded in custody.

The 32-year-old man was given interim name suppression when he appeared in the Nelson District Court on Friday. The suppression will lapse next Friday.

He did not apply for bail and was remanded without plea.

The man faces a charge of murdering Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming in the Buxton Square car park on New Year’s Day and attempting to murder Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay.

He is also charged with two counts of assault using a vehicle as a weapon, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

He will reappear on February 14.

Judge Richard Russell gave an order suppressing the publication of a video of the incident in all media, including social media. The order applies to footage taken in Buxton Square between 1.30am and 3.30am.

Crown lawyer Mark O’Donoghue made the request for the non-publication of the video because it could create a real risk of prejudicing a fair trial.

The man’s lawyer John Sandston told the court that online bloggers commenting on the case should “pull their heads in”. He had asked the Crown to contact the editor of one blog site to remove an article that discussed what punishment the man should get.

Sandston said his client acknowledged it was “a tragic event on many, many levels”, and he would be discussing what the next steps were as soon as possible.

“Whatever happened that night the outcomes for many people…were utterly tragic.”

Sandston said he needed to contact another person about the charges faced by the man. He would not apply for a continuation of suppression after the seven days because there were “no grounds”.

As the man was being led from a police van into the rear of the court, he put his t-shirt over his head to avoid media.