Ex-Mana and Green Party man in court

A former Mana Party candidate and Green Party member has appeared in the Rotorua District Court charged with assaulting a woman and possession of cannabis.

Grant Thomas Rogers, 48, appeared before a registrar in the Rotorua District Court this week and pleaded not guilty to a charge each of assaulting a woman, possession of cannabis and possession of a needle/syringe.

The offending is alleged to have been committed on October 4 at Rotorua.

Rogers was the candidate for the Mana Party in the Rotorua seat last year and got 445 votes. He was the local candidate for the Residents Action Movement (RAM) party during the 2008 elections.

He is also a former Green Party member and was that party's Rotorua branch co-convener in 2006. He also stood
unsuccessfully for the Rotorua District Council in the then west ward in 2007.

Rogers has been remanded to appear for a status hearing in the Rotorua District Court on November 20.