{"id":17354,"date":"2025-09-12T05:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17354\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T05:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:07:09","slug":"rotorua-hit-and-run-case-riki-lum-hamilton-man-charged-with-paige-johnsons-manslaughter-granted-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/17354\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua hit-and-run case: Riki Lum, Hamilton man charged with Paige Johnson\u2019s manslaughter, granted bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lum was arrested on June 25 at a Hamilton address and was remanded in custody until his bail hearing on July 30.<\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, failing to render assistance after the incident and driving while disqualified for a third time.<\/p>\n

\"RikiRiki Ronald Edward Lum, 31, appears in the High Court at Rotorua charged with the manslaughter of Paige Johnson. Photo \/ Kelly Makiha<\/p>\n

The bail hearing decision from Justice Michael Robinson was released to the Rotorua Daily Post this week by the High Court.<\/p>\n

Some details of the hearing cannot be reported for legal reasons.<\/p>\n

Lum was granted electronically monitored bail. His address cannot be disclosed.<\/p>\n

His bail terms include that he is not allowed to associate with Gary John Scott<\/a>, a co-accused.<\/p>\n

He will reappear in the High Court at Rotorua on November 7.<\/p>\n

\"GaryGary Scott appears in the High Court at Rotorua via audiovisual link at an earlier hearing. Photo \/ Kelly Makiha<\/p>\n

Scott\u2019s case was called in the High Court at Rotorua this morning before Justice Kiri Tahana.<\/p>\n

Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy said the Crown amended the original charge of accessory after the fact of manslaughter to one of willfully perverting the course of justice.<\/p>\n

Scott, 55, from Rotorua, who is in custody, is accused of disposing of the motorbike Lum was riding to enable him to avoid arrest.<\/p>\n

Scott, whose presence was excused by the court at today\u2019s hearing, had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges \u2013 including unrelated charges of possession of a shotgun, cultivating cannabis and receiving various Makita tools valued at $5000. He was yet to plead to the amended charge.<\/p>\n

His lawyer, Matthew Jenkins, said he wasn\u2019t aware the court had excused his client from today\u2019s hearing and said it meant he could not discuss the amended charge with him.<\/p>\n

Justice Tahana agreed to remand Scott for another case review hearing on September 26, when he was to plead.<\/p>\n

The maximum penalty for manslaughter is life imprisonment, and the maximum penalty for willfully perverting the course of justice is seven years\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n

\"FlowersFlowers at the pedestrian crossing on Edmund Rd in Rotorua where Paige Johnson, 24, died after being hit by a motorcyclist on June 11. Photo \/ Ben Fraser<\/p>\n

Johnson, 24, was allegedly struck by a motorcycle<\/a> as he tried to cross the pedestrian crossing. It is alleged the motorcyclist turned and rode back the way he came, passing Johnson on the road.<\/p>\n

Johnson died three days later in Waikato Hospital from his critical injuries.<\/p>\n

A trial for both men has been set for March 13, 2028, if it does not get called on the reserve date of May 3, 2027.<\/p>\n

Kelly Makiha<\/a> is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lum was arrested on June 25 at a Hamilton address and was remanded in custody until his bail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19197,1121,13239,19196,6288,19191,19195,19193,5158,15035,111,43,139,69,19194,19192,1327,102],"class_list":["post-17354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bail","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-granted","tag-hamilton","tag-hitandrun","tag-johnsons","tag-lum","tag-man","tag-manslaughter","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-paige","tag-riki","tag-rotorua","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}