A man charged with attempting to kidnap a seven-year-old girl from a Wellington street has been committed to secure hospital care.
Benjamin Mangirane, 21, was in a secure facility at Porirua's Kenepuru Hospital and did not appear in Wellington District Court today.
The court has agreed to an application from Mangirane's counsel for a psychiatric assessment to check if the Rwandan refugee was fit to stand trial.
At his previous appearances, Mangirane had told the court he knew nothing of the attempted abduction and loudly pleaded not guilty.
At an even earlier appearance on April 23, Judge Chris Tuohy refused a crown request for a psychiatric assessment, saying it was too early in proceedings and the defendant seemed fit to stand trial.
In addition to the alleged attempted abduction on March 28, Mangirane faces at least three charges of committing indecent acts in public, wilful trespass and breaching the conditions of intensive supervision and community work.
Mangirane's case was deferred to July 22.
