Man appears in court this morning over Port Levy death

At 8.00pm last night Police responded to an address in Port Levy, Banks Peninsula to investigate a serious assault after calls by several people.

On arrival it was established that a man at the house at the address was dead.

Two men lived in the house and the third had connections with it and stayed there occasionally. There had not been a party.

The scene was secured overnight due to the time of day and the darkness and a homicide inquiry headed by Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae, was instigated.

The deceased is a local man aged about 38 years.

A 41 year old man has been charged with Wounding with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily harm and will appear in the Christchurch District Court this morning. DSS Rae will not comment on any relationship between the deceased and person charged.

The scene will be examined today, searched for weapons and any forensic evidence. A post mortem will be undertaken to establish how the person died. Further charges could be laid after the post mortem.

"There is no evidence to say the man was shot," says DDS John Rae. "It was not by a gun or a cross bow as reported by some media."

The police want to speak to any one who was in the area last night to assist the inquiry. Anyone with information should contact the inquiry at Christchurch Central phone 363 7400.