/news/crime/rss 九一星空无限 Keep up with the latest in local police, courts, and crime news across New Zealand with 九一星空无限talk ZB. Thu, 19 Jun 2025 23:25:09 Z en /news/crime/auckland-couple-plan-legal-action-after-police-officer-avoids-assault-charges/ /news/crime/auckland-couple-plan-legal-action-after-police-officer-avoids-assault-charges/ A couple at the centre of a police assault are considering taking legal action after an officer who stomped, tackled, punched and kneed one of them avoided prosecution. Anaru Mano and Celeste Howell, who was eight months pregnant at the time, have questioned why the officer was not charged with assault and believe police have mishandled the investigation. Police decided that, despite there being enough evidence to prosecute the officer, it wasn’t in the public interest to do so. The Independent Police Complaints Authority, which oversaw the investigation, agreed. However, the couple say the officer, who has since resigned and is believed to have moved overseas, should have been held to account for his actions. “He should have been prosecuted,” Howell said. "We would like to see him brought back to New Zealand and prosecuted. It’s not finished, he left without consequence for his actions." A family harm calloutThe couple were living in a Lifewise facility in Ōtara, South Auckland, in November 2023 when police were called to reports of a family harm incident. The organisation provides housing and wraparound support for young people who do not have a safe or stable place to live and aims to support them. Howell says she was struggling with her mental health on the day police were called. Mano was trying to restrain her as she tried to flee the property. When two officers arrived, they spoke to the couple before escorting Mano outside the building. According to a summary from the IPCA, the officers were trying to handcuff Mano, but he resisted by keeping his arms at his sides. He was then tackled to the ground and punched by one of the officers. Howell, who was on the second-floor balcony and watching events unfold, tried to verbally interject before throwing a clay plant pot, which hit the officer on the back. Both officers then tried to drag Mano away. He tried to hold on to a fence and was pulled away. The officer who had punched and kneed Mano then stomped on his torso. Howell then threw a plastic plant pot, which missed both officers. After being handcuffed, Mano was escorted to a nearby police car. As additional officers arrived, the officer who had punched and stomped on Mano re-entered the building and arrested Howell. She alleged the officer “man-handled” her, causing her to fall, handcuffed and belly-first, down concrete stairs. She also claims he struck her on the back of the neck when escorting her to a police car. Celeste Howell and Anaru Mano question a police decision not to charge an officer who stomped on Mano while arresting him. Photo / Jason Dorday Arrests ... and CCTV evidence Mano was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and assault on a person in a family relationship. Howell was also arrested and charged with assault with a weapon for throwing the pot plants. However, she managed to locate CCTV footage of what happened and gave it to her lawyer, James McGilvary. The charge against Mano of resisting arrest was withdrawn, as was Howell’s charge of assault with a weapon. Mano instead pleaded guilty to a single charge of assault on a person in a family relationship. However, the couple do not feel justice has been served. McGilvary says he is now helping them find a lawyer to build a civil case against police for their handling of the case. They have also considered a private prosecution against the officer, but know it would be time-consuming and costly, given the officer is believed to be overseas. Mano is also unhappy with his assault conviction and wants to appeal it. The couple both deny that Mano assaulted Howell that day, but he says he felt pressured to enter a guilty plea. “I pleaded guilty to dragging her inside. I would like to appeal the conviction.” He knows “it doesn’t look good” that he pleaded guilty, but says he felt he had to. He claims the duty lawyer told him he had no other choice as he was facing up to two years in jail. McGilvary says the evidence against Mano did not support a charge of assault on a person in a family relationship, and he would have advised him to fight it. “As part of the police case against Celeste, I received a copy of the evidence police used to prove the family violence charge against Anaru. “I would have advised Anaru to plead not guilty and been confident of success at trial.” Celeste Howell and Anaru Mano discuss the investigation with their lawyer, Jamie McGilvary. Photo / Jason Dorday After the couple were arrested, a complaint was made that police used excessive force against them both. While police found force was used against Mano, allegations of excessive force being used on Howell were unsubstantiated. Howell remains adamant, however, that she was “rag-dolled” and thrown to the ground by the same officer who arrested her partner. McGilvary says CCTV in the lobby of the building appeared to have stopped recording at the moment when Howell claims she was pushed to the ground. “The camera does, however, show Celeste being picked up off the ground and subsequently marched to the back of a patrol car by the same officer. His hand is visible on Celeste’s back, forcing her to bend uncomfortably at the waist and placing pressure on her pregnant belly.” ‘Ample evidence’ to prosecute McGilvary believes there was “ample evidence” to charge the officer for the excessive force he used on Mano. He said the officer’s actions, including the force he used around Mano’s throat, were contrary to the police policy on use of force. The police report omitted other assault allegations, despite them being captured on CCTV, he said. Examples included the officer placing his hand on the back of Mano’s head and subsequently pushing it with force into the roof of the patrol car while he was in handcuffs. “It is my opinion that the evidence in support of Celeste’s claim that the officer pushed her to the ground is stronger than that used to charge Anaru with an assault on Celeste.” There was clear circumstantial CCTV evidence of Howell being picked up off the ground, while lying face down, as well as the officer’s anger. “This, coupled with the statements of both Celeste and Anaru, may have been enough to secure a conviction. “[The] decision to not prosecute the officer in this case despite damning evidence ... lacks transparency and negatively impacts public trust in New Zealand Police, in my view.” Police defend ‘public interest’ decision Counties Manukau district commander Superintendent Shanan Gray said that, before prosecuting anyone, police “will always assess the specifics of each case pursuant to the Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines, which includes a public interest test, among other criteria”. Police determined prosecution of the officer would not be in the public interest, he said. The officer’s resignation concluded the employment process for him under the Public Service Commission’s guidelines. The IPCA, which oversaw the police investigation, said in its summary that it agreed with the police findings and “overall accepts the outcome reached”. IPCA assurance manager Andrew MacNeill said the organisation was notified of the complaint by police in June 2024. After completing a triage and assessment process, the IPCA decided the case did not meet the threshold to conduct an independent investigation. He said the case categorisation process took into consideration a range of factors, including: The nature and seriousness of the allegations or incident An assessment of the existing information gathered as part of our triage process The impacts on a complainant or other parties Other considerations, such as any wider thematic concerns that have been identified What investigative actions police have already taken or intend to complete. The couple say the officer should have been prosecuted. Photo / Jason Dorday MacNeill said police began a criminal investigation and an employment process. The authority actively oversaw the investigation and completed reviews as the investigation progressed. “At the conclusion of the police investigation, we completed our final review and agreed with the findings. “Whilst the police are the decision-makers on whether to commence a prosecution, we can confirm that we were satisfied that police gave due consideration to the Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines, including applying the public interest test. “We also considered it important that police followed the Public Service Workforce Assurance Standards in relation to employment investigations into allegations of serious misconduct, and we confirmed that this was completed.” 九一星空无限 has been unable to reach the officer for comment. Thu, 19 Jun 2025 23:21:25 Z /news/crime/william-seddon-jailed-for-sexual-assault-of-6-year-old-possession-of-child-abuse-material/ /news/crime/william-seddon-jailed-for-sexual-assault-of-6-year-old-possession-of-child-abuse-material/ WARNING: This story details sexual offending against a child. ​A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a 6-year-old as he read her stories was later busted with a stash of child sex abuse images when police came to his house to arrest him. It was William John Seddon’s habitual viewing of his collection of 19,561 images and 44 videos that ultimately led to him sexually assaulting the girl, a court has heard. However, despite the large amount of imagery, only 71 were deemed objectionable, with six being in the most serious category. The remaining images and videos were not deemed to meet the criminal threshold. The Waikato man, now 68, was busted with his collection by police in 2023 while they investigated him for the earlier sexual assaults on the girl. They occurred on several occasions while he read her stories. At Seddon’s recent sentencing in the Hamilton District Court before Judge Noel Cocurullo, the girl’s father gave a victim impact statement. “It sickens me to think what she endured over that time,” he said. “To me, this is heartbreaking.” ‘Sadly, this offending is not uncommon’ Seddon initially faced three representative charges of unlawful sexual connection, but two were withdrawn by the Crown. Crown solicitor Kasey Dillon pushed for a starting point of five years plus a further 12 months for the objectionable images. He urged the judge to limit any guilty plea discount to 15%, given it came not long before the case was due to go to trial. Defence counsel Rob Weir accepted the plea discount as fair and that there were several aggravating factors in the case. But Weir added that “sadly, this court is well aware of offending that is far worse [than this]”. He said it was clear from a medical specialist’s report that Seddon’s offending had come about because of “pornography” he had collected and viewed over the years. “The offending which this man has committed as an older gentleman, without any previous offending, has arisen from the pornography that he viewed. “There’s a vast amount of images and videos, and sadly, this offending is not uncommon.” Seddon had engaged in rehabilitative work but understood he would still receive a prison sentence. “Mr Seddon understands that ... and frankly, the offending does require the court to mark and denounce it.” However, Weir did push for a discount for the rehabilitative work, as well as credit for remorse, which Seddon had outlined in a letter to the judge. He also had $5000 ready to pay to the victim’s family for the emotional harm he had caused. “Mr Seddon offered that to me with the full knowledge that he was going to receive [a jail term].” He hoped to get back to his rehabilitative work once he was released from prison, Weir said. Judge Cocurullo said Seddon had taken a “responsible approach” and that the Safe network, through which he had done his rehabilitation work, would be able to detect whether he was disingenuous or not. But the judge wasn’t interested in offering a discount for remorse, given his late plea. Weir argued the late plea was because of Seddon “coming to terms with what he had done” and had still saved the victim “the torment of a trial”. Judge Cocurullo said Seddon’s offending was serious and took an overall starting point of six years’ imprisonment. He then applied 50% worth of discounts, 20% of which encompassed Seddon’s “fairly extensive” work with Safe. Seddon was ordered to pay the $5000 emotional harm reparation and was jailed for three years. SEXUAL HARM Where to get help:If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334• Email support@safetotalk.nz• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nzAlternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at 九一星空无限 for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21. Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:53:12 Z /news/crime/senior-first-responder-accused-of-exporting-possessing-child-sex-abuse-material/ /news/crime/senior-first-responder-accused-of-exporting-possessing-child-sex-abuse-material/ A senior first responder has appeared in court today facing multiple counts of exporting and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of children. The charges have been brought against the man in his 50s by Customs New Zealand. He was arrested yesterday and held in custody overnight ahead of his first appearance in the Christchurch District Court. The man was called after 10am today before Community Magistrate Elder Robati. Court documents outline five charges against the man. He faces four counts of “knowingly concerned in the exportation of one objectionable publication depicting the sexual exploitation of children”. On April 26, he allegedly exported one objectionable publication. On April 30, he is accused of exporting five publications. This charge is representative, which means Customs believes he committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances. On May 1, he is accused of exporting 14 objectionable publications. This is also a representative charge. On May 2, he allegedly exported another two publications - another representative charge. On May 6, he faces a single charge of exporting one publication. The final charge states that between January 13 and June 1 this year, the man, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, was in possession of 19 objectionable publications depicting child sexual abuse. The man’s lawyer, Craig Ruane, sought suppression of the man’s name and occupation on the basis that he wanted time to inform his family and employer. He added that continuation of suppression was unlikely to be sought at his next appearance. He also sought bail for the man. The Herald opposed the suppression of the man’s employer at least. Community Magistrate Robati granted the man bail, putting conditions in place prohibiting him from using the internet, having contact with children or leaving the country. He granted the suppression order, giving no reason or explanation for his decision. The man will appear in court again in two months, giving Customs time to carry out forensic examinations of devices seized from his home yesterday during the execution of a search warrant. The man’s employer could not comment while the matter was before the courts. Customs said the man was arrested following an investigation that began in April 2025. “Customs investigators conducted a search warrant at the man’s home, which led to his arrest and the seizure of electronic devices for further forensic examination,” said a spokesperson. “He currently faces multiple charges relating to the possession and exportation of objectionable publications, which both carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. “Customs is unable to provide further comments while this matter is before the courts.” Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz Thu, 19 Jun 2025 03:23:59 Z /news/crime/police-arrest-22-year-old-after-burnout-confrontation-turns-violent-two-men-on-run/ /news/crime/police-arrest-22-year-old-after-burnout-confrontation-turns-violent-two-men-on-run/ Six people have been injured after a “serious, violent” brawl that began when a person confronted a trio doing burnouts in a small Waikato township. Detective Sergeant Ben Norman said police were alerted to a group of people fighting on Tahuna-Ohinewai Rd in Tahuna about 7.20pm yesterday. “A person who confronted three men in a vehicle doing burnouts was assaulted, and other members of the public attempted to intervene. “After noticing the incident unfolding, an occupant of a nearby property has attempted to intervene. However, they were also assaulted by the alleged offenders.” Six people suffered injuries in the violence. The offenders then took two vehicles from the Tahuna-Ohinewai home and moved them onto the street. “Upon police arrival, the offenders have fled the scene, two fled on foot, while another left in a vehicle taken from the address. “A short time later, one of the offenders was located nearby and was taken into custody by police.” Waikato Police arrested and charged a 22-year-old, who was due to appear in Hamilton District Court today, charged with aggravated robbery and injuring with intent to injure. Hato Hone St John responded to the incident with three ambulances and one rapid response unit. Two patients in a serious condition and one in a minor condition were taken to Waikato Hospital. The remaining three patients, all in minor conditions, were assessed and treated at the scene, St John said. An investigation into the serious assault and aggravated robbery had begun, and police were working to establish what happened, Norman said. “Police are following multiple lines of inquiry to identify and locate the remaining two offenders and encourage them to do the right thing and hand themselves in. “While police would like to thank those who tried to intervene and assist other members of the public, police urge the public not to take matters into their own hands or confront individuals themselves as situations can escalate quickly. “Instead, stay in a safe location, gather as much information as you safely can, and contact police on 111.” Tahuna residents may see an increased police presence in the area while inquiries continue. If you have any information that may assist in the investigation, contact police online at 105.police.govt.nz or by calling 105. Use the reference number 250619/2309. You can also provide information through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei. Thu, 19 Jun 2025 02:57:16 Z /news/crime/150-000-still-missing-after-ex-armourguard-employee-raided-atm-with-dad-driving-getaway-car/ /news/crime/150-000-still-missing-after-ex-armourguard-employee-raided-atm-with-dad-driving-getaway-car/ A former Armourguard employee used the company’s special codes to raid nearly $200,000 from an ATM machine. And while police have managed to claw back more than $30,000, just over $159,000 remains outstanding, with a police officer earlier suspecting it may lie buried on the Coromandel. The heist was carried out by former Armourguard employee, Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, 26, who enlisted the help of her now terminally-ill father, James Lindsay Ranford, to act as her getaway driver. The pair reappeared in the Hamilton District Court today, where they were due to be sentenced on two charges of burglary. However, Judge Glen Marshall adjourned the case to allow them to try and remember where the stolen money is. “One issue I have with both defendants is that they both say that the other has had control of the money,” Judge Marshall put to Ranford’s counsel, Shelley Gilbert. “I have talked about that, but I don’t think the money is coming ... as of today, I have no instructions about the money,” Gilbert said. Jaiden Manera, counsel for Daniela-Ranford, said the only money she had retained was used to buy a vehicle, which was then seized by police. “So all in all, Ms Daniela-Ranford, on her instructions, simply was not the beneficiary of the monies. “That’s as far as I can take it.” ‘The heist’ It was May 31, last year, at 4.16pm when Ranford and his daughter, in a rear passenger seat, parked up outside Yukedas Party and Gift Store in Hillcrest. The pair had slightly altered the registration plates of their Nissan Tiida by changing one of the numbers. Dressed in all black, Daniela-Ranford got out of the car with her hood up and walked into the store and went straight to an ATM cash machine. She entered two codes and removed five cannisters containing $50 and $20 notes, court documents say. She then got into the back seat of the car, and Ranford took off “at high speed”, heading east along Clyde St. A short time later, the Nissan was set alight on Holland Rd, Eureka, on the outskirts of Hamilton. Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, left, and her father, James Lindsay Ranford. The pair was due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court today but the case was adjourned. Photos / Belinda Feek The pair was captured on CCTV at Z petrol station in Hautapu in their Mitsubishi Outlander, registered in Daniela-Radford’s name. Gilbert successfully asked for her client’s sentencing to be adjourned so home detention can be explored as a sentencing option. Police prosecutor Jamie Rowney confirmed $159,300 was still outstanding. Police had gathered $28,000 from the vehicle seizure and found $5000 “laying around” in one of Ranford’s vehicles. He labelled their offending as “significant and egregious” that had a significant financial implications on the victim company, and there had been no attempts by either defendant to return the money. “I’m aware that Mr Ranford, in particular, knows where that money is. “He has not made any effort to return even a small amount. “This offending has caused real harm to the community.” Manera responded and said Daniela-Ranford had been “unequivocal” in that she didn’t have the money. Judge Marshall agreed to adjourn the sentencing and relax Daniela-Ranford’s bail condition, avoiding contact with her father, so the pair can work out where the remaining money is. They were both remanded on further bail to reappear for sentencing next month. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at 九一星空无限 for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21. Wed, 18 Jun 2025 04:27:51 Z /news/crime/partner-of-slain-tribesmen-gang-member-blames-president-for-alleged-murder-hamilton-jury-hears/ /news/crime/partner-of-slain-tribesmen-gang-member-blames-president-for-alleged-murder-hamilton-jury-hears/ The partner of a patched Tribesmen Aotearoa member allegedly beaten to death by his own group, lays the blame for the ‘hot-box’ attack at the feet of the gang’s president. “I hate him,” Rebecca Van Der Aa told Conway Rapana’s defence counsel Steve Franklin in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday. “I have no respect for him at all,” she said. Rapana, the gang’s president, together with vice-president Heremaia Gage, and patched members Ngahere Tapara and Te Patukino Biddle, and prospect Dean Collier, are on trial for the murder of Mark Hohua. The crown alleges that Hohua, known as Shark, died after a ‘hot-box’ attack on June 18, 2022, by the defendants. A hot-box is where gang members dish out “discipline” on one of their own after alleged “wrongdoings or offences”. In Hohua’s case, he allegedly set up a direct debit using the gang’s bank account from online website, Layaway, which sells homeware and personal items and incurred a $1200 debt. Crown solicitor Richard Jenson told the jury that word quickly spread, and Rapana sanctioned the hot-box on the 48-year-old, which caused his fatal injuries. Te Patukino Biddle, Heremaia Gage, Ngahere Tapara, Conway Rapana, and Dean Collier pictured during their first trial in the High Court at Rotorua last year. The trial was abandoned after the judge became ill. Photo / Andrew Warner Biddle’s defence counsel, Matthew Goodwin, claimed that while the hot-box had “gone wrong”, Hohua was killed by a critical head injury he suffered when he fell down “steep and treacherous stairs” on Rapana’s rural Waimana property. That was why his client pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter at the start of the re-trial. Hohua was rushed to Whakatāne Hospital by Collier and another gang member, but died the following day. ‘He was warned not to go’ Rebecca Van Der Aa lived with Hohua in Whakatāne. Questioned by Jenson, she said Hohua grew up in Murupara and was “practically born into” gangs. He became a patched member of another gang in 2018 before joining the Tribesmen, not long before he died, she said. Hohua had known Rapana for more than 20 years, and Rapana and Hohua’s brother, Matiu, later established the gang in 2020 or 2021. In evidence, Van Der Aa said on the morning of Hohua’s death, they were woken by a phone call about 6am. Hohua then went to visit Matiu. He returned about 8.30am and told her he had been warned that he was going to get hot-boxed at a gang hui that morning for the money going missing. Asked about Hohua’s demeanour when he spoke to her, Van Der Aa said, “he didn’t want to go”. “I asked him not to go and he said he wasn’t going to go.” She had work in Ōpōtiki at 9am, and when she got home about 3.30pm, she tried to ring Hohua’s phone, but it had been turned off. ‘He would still be alive if it weren’t for him’ Franklin, on behalf of his client, put to her that Rapana had tried to help Hohua “get his life in better order”. Van Der Aa said that was before the Tribesmen Aotearoa chapter was set up, and that Rapana “didn’t hold his hand through it all”. Tribesmen Aotearoa president Conway Rapana pictured in the High Court at Hamilton on Monday. Photo / Belinda Feek Franklin said it appeared that she held a bit of animosity towards his client. “I hate him,” she responded. “I have no respect for him at all.” Franklin questioned why she couldn’t give any credit to Rapana for his help over the years. “If it wasn’t for him, Shark would still be here,” she said. “He would still be alive.” Biddle’s defence counsel, Matthew Goodwin, also suggested Rapana had done a lot to help Hohua over the years. That included helping sort anger and drug issues, getting him back into fitness and letting him stay at his Hodges Rd property when he needed to, Goodwin said. Van Der Aa agreed and explained that Hohua had a rough childhood, had developed bipolar and was a meth addict. But he was tough and knew how to handle himself, she said. The trial is set down for four weeks before a jury and Justice David Johnstone. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at 九一星空无限 for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21. Wed, 18 Jun 2025 03:17:03 Z /news/crime/wairarapa-hospital-machete-attacker-fuatai-iona-imprisoned-after-breaking-wife-s-lover-s-skull/ /news/crime/wairarapa-hospital-machete-attacker-fuatai-iona-imprisoned-after-breaking-wife-s-lover-s-skull/ A man who smuggled a machete into Wairarapa Hospital and used it to fracture his wife’s lover’s skull and take a chunk of flesh from his shoulder has been sent to prison. In the chaos following the attack, confused hospital staff placed the attacker and his wife in a cubicle together while they treated the victim’s wounds, leaving her briefly at his mercy as he tried to punch her in the face. Fuatai Iona, 63, appeared in the Wellington District Court today for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, threatening to kill, and assault in a family relationship for the dramatic March 2024 incident. His wife, 35, had been asking for a divorce for months before the attack, with their marriage having been “under strain for many years”, the summary of facts said. Iona had refused, saying marriage was till death. They had been together for 17 years. The wife eventually began a “discreet relationship” with the 73-year-old victim, which Iona had suspected. At one point he told her if he found her and the victim together, he would kill them. Fuatai Iona, 63, appeared in the Wellington District Court for sentencing over a violent machete attack in Wairarapa Hospital. Photo / Melissa Nightingale The victim, a family friend of many years, was part of the same, close-knit Pasifika community in their area. On March 30 last year, the wife was admitted to hospital for suspected kidney stones. Iona and their children were at the hospital with her in the emergency department until about 10pm. After he left the hospital, the second victim arrived for a visit, as the wife had asked him to bring her a drink. About 11.30pm, Iona returned to the hospital with a machete concealed in his clothing, believing the two victims were there together. “The defendant was permitted access back into the secure area of the ED by hospital staff, and then went to the ED cubicle where [his wife] was being cared for,” the summary said. He walked into the cubicle, where his wife was lying on a bed still in pain, and saw the other victim sitting in a chair facing away from him. “The defendant then pulled out the machete and swung it at [the male victim], striking him twice on the head.” Iona kept swinging, striking the victim in the left ear and on the back of his left shoulder. His wife grabbed the machete and struggled with him as he held it against the back of the other victim’s neck, believing the victim had briefly passed out from the initial blows to his head. She suffered several small cuts to her hands and yelled out to hospital staff for help. Staff arrived and took away the machete, then, unaware of exactly what had happened, put Iona and his wife in another cubicle as they tended the other victim’s wounds. Iona turned and tried to punch his wife in the head, saying “you played on me”. The incident happened at Wairarapa Hospital in Masterton. “[She] had to move suddenly to avoid being hit, or else he would have struck her in the face with his fist.” She again raised the alarm to staff, who moved her to another area. Iona was arrested a short time later. “In addition to the distress for the first complainant . . . it was also an extremely stressful incident for the hospital staff to have to intervene and deal with,” the summary said. The wife did not suffer any significant injuries, but the other victim suffered a skull fracture, two lacerations on his head that required stapling, a laceration to his ear and a laceration to his shoulder which took off a “moderate piece of flesh”. In court today, defence lawyer Joseph Griffiths asked the judge not to grant the Herald’s application to photograph Iona, saying there was no public interest in publishing his image. It would “amount to a pillory or an added punishment in this case in light of the defendant’s previous good character”, he said. The Herald told Judge Tania Warburton it disagreed there was no public interest when the defendant had smuggled a lethal weapon into a hospital and attacked an unaware victim, causing serious injuries and affecting multiple people. Judge Warburton said she must give weight to the “desirability of open justice” and granted the application. In sentencing, she referred to victim impact statements, where the male victim said he was still on reduced work hours due to the ongoing impact from his injuries. “He is worried you will try and kill him . . . He now thinks about why he survived and how it could happen in such a public place,” the judge said. Iona’s wife has moved with her children to Australia and still suffers flashbacks and panic attacks. “She is still scared that you will try to kill her.” Judge Warburton said there was an argument from Griffiths that provocation was a mitigating factor, due to the affair and the ending of the marriage. The judge disagreed, saying it was not enough to be incensed by the actions of others. She declined to give a discount for remorse, saying a letter Iona had written to the court said he was sorry for what he did to the male victim, but made no mention of his wife. “I also note the pre-sentence report said you showed no real remorse towards the victims of your offending, and the point was thoroughly discussed with you.” She did allow discounts for his guilty plea and previous good character. He has no prior convictions. Iona was sentenced to four years in prison. The 14 months spent in prison on remand will be taken into account by the prison when assessing eligibility for parole. Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years. Wed, 18 Jun 2025 01:36:13 Z /news/crime/auckland-prisoner-donovan-duff-already-in-jail-for-child-murder-sentenced-for-inmate-death/ /news/crime/auckland-prisoner-donovan-duff-already-in-jail-for-child-murder-sentenced-for-inmate-death/ A Mongrel Mob member who killed his baby daughter - then used a prison kitchen-issued knife to fatally stab a fellow inmate because he was tired of “mean people” calling him a “kid killer” - will stay incarcerated for at least 17 more years. Waikato resident Donovan Michael Duff, who turns 49 next week, returned to the High Court at Auckland today for sentencing. But there was little debate around what sentence Justice Grant Powell should impose. Because it was Duff’s second murder conviction, he faced a life sentence with a minimum term of imprisonment of at least 17 years unless the judge deemed such a sentence to be manifestly unjust. Duff’s lawyers agreed it wouldn’t be so. Duff was previously handed a life sentence with a 17-year minimum non-parole period out of the High Court at Rotorua in October 2018 for the beating death two-and-a-half years earlier of his 9-month-old daughter, Maija. Today’s sentencing sets the clock back on his non-parole periods, Justice Powell said, explaining that Duff will be 65 years old and will have served 23 years and eight months total before he can start asking the Parole Board for release. The judge noted that the defendant continues to show no remorse and could present “nothing else of an even remotely mitigating nature aside from your guilty plea”. ‘Just seen red’ Murder victim Brian Kenneth George died at Auckland South Corrections Facility in Wiri on the morning of December 21, 2023, within minutes of suffering six stab wounds with a large chef’s knife that Duff - a vegetarian cook at the facility - had recently signed out. The knife, which had a 20cm blade, had punctured George’s heart and the tip of his lung. Donovan Michael Duff, who was found guilty in the High Court at Rotorua in 2018 of murdering his baby daughter, pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland last year to the 2023 murder of fellow inmate Brian George at Auckland South Corrections Facility. Photo / Jason Oxenham Another inmate suffered a single stab wound to the abdomen so deep it almost went completely through his body. Justice Powell described today the man’s terror as “he could see his bowels spilling out from his abdomen”. That victim required emergency surgery but survived. The killing was caught on CCTV and staff at the privately-operated prison immediately responded. Duff declined to speak to authorities about the incident, but he was less guarded the following day during a phone call from prison to his partner. “That c*** gets to call me a kid killer and f***ing get away with it,” he told his partner, adding that it was especially galling when other child abusers got on his case. “I’ll f*** any c*** that’s f***ing call me that... “I’ve been f***ing hearing this shit, hearing this shit that’s f***ing coming out of mean people’s f***ing mouths but I can’t quite f***ing pinpoint who it was actually coming from. And then when I see the words come out of this c***’s mouth, I just seen red.” ‘Calm but deliberate’ killing According to the agreed summary of facts, Duff had reported for duty in the kitchen - where about 40 prisoners worked, including the two victims - and signed out the knife at 10.55am. George and convicted drug dealer Po-Chen Chien were sitting on plastic milk crates in a loading bay, waiting for a prison officer to open external doors so they could transfer food between fridges. A jury found Donovan Duff guilty in 2018 of murdering his baby daughter. Photo / Stephen Parker Duff briefly approached the entry to the same area at 11.20am before turning around and walking back to the main kitchen. When he returned one minute later, he went directly to Chien and stabbed him once. “The defendant remained in front of Mr Chien and stood in a confrontational stance with the knife still in his right hand,” the agreed summary of facts states. Duff then turned around and appeared as if he was about to leave before changing his mind. He instead approached George and inflicted the six stab wounds. “Mr George was still sitting on the milk crate, and the first stab was to his lower left abdomen,” court documents state. “Mr George put his arm around his stomach and attempted to move backwards to get away from the defendant, however, he was unable to get away as there were crates both behind him and to his right and the defendant was blocking the only exit. “The defendant then immediately stabbed him to the abdomen again. Mr George tried to block the defendant and curl inwards to protect his torso. The defendant used his left hand to push Mr George’s head back and stabbed him a further four times, including to the chest, while Mr George attempted to block the attack with his hands.” The defendant, who then placed the knife in his pants pocket as he returned to the kitchen, was described by authorities as having “acted calmly but deliberately” throughout the attack. George activated an emergency button on the loading bay wall, yelling out, “Help! Help!” Staff nurses raced to help George and administered CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 11.42am. ‘All so cruel’ In a victim impact statement read aloud in court today, George’s mother says she and her daughter remain haunted and traumatised by what happened. “I can’t understand how an inmate who murdered another person was allowed to sign out a large knife,” she said, adding that “the lack of supervision ... was a factor that led to my son’s murder”. George had been set for release in just three weeks when he was killed, explained his mother, who lives in Australia. “We were all excited about Brian’s release and all looked forward to celebrating together,” she said. “All I have now are recurring nightmares about how my son spent the last minute of his life. “...It was all so cruel how he died.” Double-murderer Donovan Michael Duff appears in the High Court at Auckland for an earlier hearing. Photo / Jason Oxenham Justice Powell later emphasised that the victims’ status as inmates did not “in any way reduce the seriousness of what occurred”. They, too, were part of the community, he said. “It’s important for our community ... that all prisoners are able to serve their sentences safely,” he said, acknowledging the family’s grief. Lifetime behind bars The judge noted today that Duff had 166 previous convictions, including the murder of his daughter. Defence lawyer Shane Tait described Duff as a “sad example of somebody who’s spent the totality of their adult life incarcerated in the prison system”. His client was raised in Palmerston North and Tūrangi by his grandparents due to his own mother’s incarceration, Tait said. He grew up among Mongrel Mob members and left school at a young age after truancy, glue sniffing and drug taking, the lawyer added. He said his client’s first term of imprisonment was at age 16, and since then he has only spent about four years outside of prison. “He sees that [four-year stretch] as one of the most better achievements of his life,” Tait said. Donovan Duff Tait said his client continues to have trouble “dealing with acceptance” of his first murder conviction, during which methamphetamine use was at play. Duff insisted during his Rotorua trial that he didn’t know how the baby received the injuries. But prosecutors said he was the only caregiver at home with the baby when she suffered injuries so severe they were compared to being kicked in the head by a horse. During Duff’s previous sentencing, Justice Mathew Downs outlined his long history of violence, which included breaking his former partner’s pelvis during a hammer attack, presenting a firearm at a law enforcement officer, aggravated robbery and other assault and wounding convictions. A detailed list wasn’t provided at today’s hearing beyond the previous child murder. But Justice Powell noted that Duff continues to be assessed as a high risk of reoffending and hurting others. The judge agreed with Crown prosecutor Chris Howard that the killing had been premeditated and that the victims were vulnerable because of their prisoner status and because of the “sudden and unprovoked nature of the attack”. A new 17-year minimum sentence, the judge concluded, was “entirely appropriate and necessary”. Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Wed, 18 Jun 2025 01:21:51 Z /news/crime/father-of-six-jailed-after-violent-rampage-leaves-seven-injured-including-three-children/ /news/crime/father-of-six-jailed-after-violent-rampage-leaves-seven-injured-including-three-children/ WARNING: This story is about family violence and may be distressing. An angry man struck his partner while she was holding a baby because she wouldn’t talk to him, before going on to injure six other people, including three children, in a fit of rage. The rampage began when the intoxicated man approached his partner in her bedroom last November. When she wouldn’t engage with him he slapped her with an open palm 10 times on her thigh, causing immediate swelling and bruising.  According to a police summary of facts produced during the man’s recent sentencing on various charges in the Christchurch District Court, the woman put the baby down as the abuse continued. The man dragged her along the floor, punching her, before throwing a large pot plant towards her. As it landed next to her head, parts of the ceramic pot struck her in the face, damaging her teeth and causing bleeding. The couple have six children and three were sleeping in the house when they heard the screaming. They woke up and went into the bedroom, where they confronted the man and yelled at him to stop. Children assaulted  The man punched two of them in the face. The woman fled to a nearby address to call for help. The man followed and confronted a third child, punching them in the head. He also kicked the child as they lay on the ground. The child tried to hide under a bed as he threw a pram, which hit them. The child packed a backpack and fled the house. The man headed to a neighbouring address in search of the woman. There he located a fifth victim and accused her of calling police on a previous occasion. She told him to leave and fled towards her house, entering the garage as the man ran towards her, as she attempted to close the garage’s electric door. He climbed under the door and entered, telling her, “If you call the police, it will be the last thing you ever do.” She told him to leave again, and he left. Neighbours assaulted The man’s seventh victim arrived at the address and found the fifth victim, his wife, in shock. He told the man, who was standing outside, to leave. The sixth victim, who was the seventh victim’s son, went outside. In a confrontation, the man punched the sixth victim twice and also the punched the seventh victim, then threw him into a fence. As police arrived and arrested and attempted to handcuff him, the man tensed his arms and thrashed his body. The Christchurch courthouse. Photo / Matthew Abbott, The New York Times Police assaulted While he was being walked to a police vehicle, he kicked a police officer in the leg, causing them to fall. He initially refused to get into the police car, bracing his legs against it. The summary of facts showed the man’s partner received a black eye; two fractured teeth; a fracture of the greater tubercle of her left shoulder, (a crack of the upper arm bone); and bruising to her leg. Two children were left with tender cheekbones, and the third child suffered a bleeding nose, significant swelling to the jaw and sore ribs. The neighbour’s husband was left with a tender cheekbone, and his son received grazes to his head. All the victims were vulnerable Judge Callaghan said the man had a history of offending and family violence callouts. The offending was aggravated by the fact he was serving a sentence of intensive supervision, a community-based rehabilitation sentence, at the time. All the victims were vulnerable and the offending occurred in their homes where they should expect safety and security, the judge said. “In respect of the children, a significant breach of trust by being assaulted by a parent. “In respect of the partner, an aggravating feature is that initially she held the young baby, but was able to put that down, but the children, particularly the three I mentioned, witnessed the violence and I am not double-counting because they, themselves were subsequently assaulted and there was a threat at least on the partner and the actual use of a weapon in respect of the (one of the children).” From the information in front of him, the judge said the man was an alcoholic and prior to the incident, appeared to have been coping, having undergone rehabilitation. He and his partner were planning a wedding. However, alcohol or intoxication was not a mitigating feature, although addiction to alcohol should be considered by the court when considering personal mitigating features, Judge Callaghan said. Judge Callaghan sentenced the man to 28 months’ jail on charges of injuring with intent, assaulting children, assaulting neighbours, assaulting a police officer, resisting police, behaving threateningly, unlawfully being in a building and breaching intensive supervision. FAMILY VIOLENCE How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.Where to go for help or more information:• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.How to hide your visit:If you are reading this information on the Herald website and you're worried that someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, you can follow the steps at the link here to hide your visit. Each of the websites above also has a section that outlines this process. Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands 九一星空无限. Tue, 17 Jun 2025 08:50:08 Z /news/crime/tribesmen-gang-s-alleged-hotbox-murder-of-member-mark-shark-hohua/ /news/crime/tribesmen-gang-s-alleged-hotbox-murder-of-member-mark-shark-hohua/ Minutes before Tribesmen Aotearoa gang members allegedly delivered a brutal and fatal assault on one of their own at an Eastern Bay of Plenty property, children had been happily bouncing on a trampoline. Those children belonged to Tribesmen president Conway Rapana, who in June 2022 was living at the Hodges Rd, Waimana, property with his partner, Jolene Biddle. Shortly after alleged murder victim Mark ‘Shark’ Hohua and his son arrived, along with co-defendant Te Patukino Biddle, an attack began as a punishment for unauthorised purchases from an online website, Layaway. Rapana, vice president Heremaia Gage, patched members Ngahere Tapara and Te Patukino Biddle, and prospect Dean Collier today began their retrial in the High Court at Hamilton over the alleged murder of Hohua. Biddle pleaded guilty to Hohua’s manslaughter, but Crown Solicitor Richard Jenson told the jury the case was “a murder”. The trial first began in the Rotorua High Court in May last year but was abandoned after a week after Justice Geoffrey Venning became ill. It is now being heard by a jury of seven women and five men before Justice David Johnstone. The Layaway purchases, and the ‘small mercy’ Opening the Crown case, Jenson told the jury the case was about a fatal assault by a group of Tribesmen gang members on one of their own on June 18, 2022. Hohua had been seriously assaulted by fellow Tribesmen Aotearoa gang members as he’d made unauthorised purchases using the chapter bank account. The attack by the gang on one of their own members for alleged “wrongdoings or offences” was described as a “hotbox”, he said. The hot box was sanctioned by the chapter’s president, and as with any assault or bashing, the “consequences are severe”. “Mark Hohua was hot-boxed on 18 June and the next day, 19 June ... Mr Hohua died from his injuries.” Hohua had made three purchases from an online website, Layaway, which sold household and personal items, between September 2020 and December 2021. Tribesmen Aotearoa president Conway Rapana. Photo / Belinda Feek Layaway allowed customers to pay for items in instalments. Hohua had set up those payments to come from the Tribesmen’s bank account - but he didn’t have permission to do it. Jenson said Hohua’s purchases were not discovered until a day or two before his death. Word quickly spread about what he’d done. With a club meeting scheduled for June 18, Hohua’s actions were to be the “number one item on the agenda”, Jenson said. Tribesmen Aotearoa vice president Heremaia Gage, left, and patched member Ngahere Tapara in the High Court at Hamilton today. Photo / Belinda Feek So keen for Hohua to attend the meeting, it was arranged for Biddle to be dropped off at his house and to travel back with him to Rapana’s property. Jenson said shortly before Hohua arrived, children had been bouncing on a trampoline at the rural Hodges Rd property. Drone footage, which was coincidentally being filmed by Biddle’s brother at the time Hohua’s vehicle arrived, was also shown to the jury. A second vehicle, containing Tapara, then arrived, and the attack allegedly began. Jenson alleged the attack started in a shed and continued around different parts of the property as Hohua tried to escape. Patched Tribesmen Aotearoa member Te Patukino Biddle in the High Court at Hamilton. Photo / Belinda Feek Rapana then ordered for Hohua’s son to be taken home, which Jenson described as “some sort of small mercy so he wouldn’t have to see what was unfolding”. Hohua was then bundled into the boot of Rapana’s Toyota and driven to a nearby river, with Rapana following on his motorbike. There, he was “cleaned up”, although Jenson said it may have been possible the assault continued down at the river. Tribesmen Aotearoa prospect Dean Collier in the High Court at Hamilton today. Photo / Belinda Feek After being taken back to Rapana’s house, he was bundled into Collier’s car and driven by him, with Tapara, to Whakatāne Hospital, “at speed”. There, the pair allegedly told medical staff that they found Hohua by a bridge, that they didn’t know him, and were simply on their way to work. ‘This is a murder’ Jenson told the jury the defendants were guilty of murder either as a principal offender, or as a party, by aiding and abetting or encouraging the principal offender. Although Biddle had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, that plea was based on the fact that shortly after the hotbox, Hohua became “frightened” and fled, and suffered his fatal injury after falling down a bank. He told the jury that if they accepted Biddle’s version of events, they should also find his co-defendants guilty of manslaughter, but reiterated it was their case that Hohua died from the assault itself. “The Crown says this is a murder ... not some frightening and falling down a bank.” Defence counsel will deliver a brief opening tomorrow morning, before the Crown calls its first witness. The trial is set down for four weeks. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at 九一星空无限 for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21. Mon, 16 Jun 2025 08:47:47 Z /news/crime/teen-clocks-nearly-200kmh-on-auckland-southern-motorway/ /news/crime/teen-clocks-nearly-200kmh-on-auckland-southern-motorway/ A teenager was detected allegedly reaching an “eye-watering speed” of nearly 200km/h on a late-night Auckland motorway dash. Police said the 18-year-old man will face charges after a patrol detected him allegedly reaching potentially fatal and dangerous speeds. A motorway patrol unit on the Southern Motorway saw the vehicle about 11pm last night. Sergeant Chris Mann said it was lucky police were not telling the public about a fatality. “Another unit picked up this vehicle on the motorway as it neared the Mt Wellington off-ramp. “It locked the vehicle at an eye-watering speed – nearly twice the speed limit.” Officers tried to stop the vehicle near the off-ramp, but the driver continued on. “The police Eagle helicopter deployed and was able to track the vehicle,” Mann said. “Another unit in the Mt Wellington area was able to successfully deploy spikes to slow the vehicle down.” The Eagle directed ground staff to a Pt England St, where the vehicle was parked. Mann said the 18-year-old male driver, and registered owner of the vehicle, will face court. “Alongside having his vehicle impounded, the driver has also been suspended from driving for 28 days,” Mann said. “There is no excuse for driving at this speed and it’s fortunate our staff weren’t knocking on someone’s door last night to advise of a fatality.” Mon, 16 Jun 2025 03:24:08 Z /news/crime/whakat%C4%81ne-armed-robbery-stolen-car-recovered-one-suspect-arrested/ /news/crime/whakat%C4%81ne-armed-robbery-stolen-car-recovered-one-suspect-arrested/ A Whakatāne dairy has been targeted by armed robbers this morning. Police were called to the Peace St Dairy about 7.25am after three males reportedly entered the shop with weapons, Senior Sergeant Helen Hay said. The men allegedly stole items and left in a silver Mazda, which was reported stolen and has since been recovered, Hay said. “A red Suzuki Swift is believed to have also been used in the robbery. This Suzuki had been recovered and one suspect had been arrested, Hay said. Police wanted to hear from anyone who may have seen the red Suzuki Swift “driving erratically in the wider Bay of Plenty area”. Inquiries were under way to find the co-offenders. Any witnesses or anyone with information about the offenders was urged to contact police as soon as possible via 105. They should quote number 250616/2671. People can also provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. Mon, 16 Jun 2025 01:29:10 Z /news/crime/police-find-firearm-and-drugs-in-stolen-van-in-whitianga/ /news/crime/police-find-firearm-and-drugs-in-stolen-van-in-whitianga/ A gun, ammunition and drugs were found in a stolen van in Whitianga, police allege. The van was taken from a Manaia property sometime between April 20 and 21, but a break in the case came on Friday when officers found it outside a White St address in Whitianga, Eastern Waikato Police area commander Inspector Mike Henwood said today. Police have found a firearm, ammunition and drugs in an stolen van in Whitianga. “The vehicle was subsequently searched and police located a firearm, ammunition, methamphetamine and a significant amount of cash. “It’s a great result, it’s a win for the victim who’s going to be reunited with their vehicle and it’s a win for the community,” Henwood said. “Any time you get firearms and drugs off the street, the community wins. He said drugs – especially methamphetamine – were a “significant driver of crime and harm” and police worked hard to hold suppliers accountable and remove drugs from circulation. Police have found a firearm, ammunition and drugs in an stolen van in Whitianga. A 34-year-old man is due to appear in the Thames District Court later this week on charges including possession of methamphetamine for supply, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle. Police encouraged anyone with concerns about illegal drug use in their community to call 111 if there is an immediate public safety risk, or contact police via 105 online or by phone to make a report. Sun, 15 Jun 2025 21:48:45 Z /news/crime/mother-avoids-jail-for-relationship-with-friend-s-15-year-old-son/ /news/crime/mother-avoids-jail-for-relationship-with-friend-s-15-year-old-son/ WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT  A mother of three “fell in love” with a friend’s 15-year-old son and formed a “relationship” with him before authorities discovered her “distorted thinking”.  The teen wasn’t getting on well with his family and had been reported missing more than 20 times. She was very anxious to find love in a real relationship, and he provided it.  Judge Jane Farish said that the pair fell in love and the relationship continued for several months as she sentenced the woman for sexual connection with a young person.  “Unfortunately, you were very anxious to find love in a real relationship. He provided it, you fell in love, he fell in love with you.”  The court heard the pair discussed having children of their own.  The woman was friends with the boy’s mother who was aware of the relationship.  However, his mother was concerned about his mental health and worried he might try to take his life if she tried to intervene or stop the relationship.  The Christchurch District Court heard it played on the offender’s mind as well, as her mother had committed suicide, and she had also tried to take her own life.  In early 2023, police were alerted by Oranga Tamariki to the relationship, and the woman then admitted it to police.  At sentencing on Monday, Judge Farish said an earlier sentencing indication had been given with a starting point of five years’ jail.  The Christchurch District Court. Photo / Nate McKinnon, RNZ  A ‘co-dependant’ relationship  Judge Farish said she would not be sending the woman to jail.  “There is a lot of personal information which is relative as to why I am not sending her to jail.”  Judge Farish said there was an issue with child sex offender registration.  “I have to be satisfied that she poses a risk to those under 16 but there is not information that supports that.”  Defence lawyer Kathy Basire said the victim was months away from consent when the offending happened.  “She was not attracted to this person because of their age.”  There was no grooming, there was “distorted thinking” when she fell in love with him, almost a mutual dependence on one another, which fed their distorted thinking, Basire said.  There was an idea they could have a family and that everyone would accept it.  However, she was meant to be more culpable because she was an adult.  Basire said the victim was never interviewed and the prosecution relied on her client’s admissions. The relationship had occurred over a period of seven months in 2022.  It was not a situation where the woman was sexually attracted to boys, it was a co-dependent relationship, Basire said.  Inappropriate, but consensual  Judge Farish said there were specific issues in sentencing the woman.  There was suppression and another charge that had yet to be determined.  There was a risk of identifying the complainant, while the judge was also concerned about the impact on the woman’s children.  Judge Farish said she had read that one of the woman’s children was quite vulnerable.  The woman had suffered a traumatic and difficult childhood, the judge said. She had suffered a lot of abuse and other people had taken advantage of her.  Her relationship with the father of her children had been toxic and caused her harm, and she had struggled to step away from it.  Judge Farish, in reading the reports, said there was a reality in the woman’s loneliness, she was parenting on her own, and the charges had caused her and her children a great deal of anxiety.  “It is inappropriate to have relationships with those under 16 but this was consensual.  “The difficulty is that you were a victim then became an offender. Your personal mental health struggles are significant, they are relevant, you would not have got into the relationship, but for your own difficulties.”  Judge Farish took a starting point of four years’ jail, giving the woman a 20% discount for a guilty plea. Another 15% was applied for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and associated disorders.  It had been noted she would be vulnerable if jailed, so another 5% was applied.  Another 10% was given in recognising the woman’s relationship to her children.  Home detention would be beneficial  A sentence of home detention would benefit her children and the community at large in the long run, the judge said.  Judge Farish sentenced the woman to nine months’ home detention and referred her to a sex offender programme.  She was ordered not to possess or consume alcohol and to undertake any counselling as directed.  Judge Farish said she would not impose an order that the woman not have contact with persons under 16 as it would create difficulties.  “You are not at risk of having more sex.”  She would have been automatically enrolled on the Child Sex Offender Register if given a custodial sentence, but given all the available material, there was no indication that she posed a risk, the judge said.  Judge Farish then turned to the issue of suppression. The judge said she was worried about the woman’s children. If there was any publication of the woman’s name it would identify the victim, and he had wanted to move on with his life, the judge said.  “He didn’t want to be part of this prosecution.”  A final order was made for name suppression.  SEXUAL HARM  Where to get help:If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334• Email support@safetotalk.nz• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nzAlternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault. Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands 九一星空无限.  Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:55:44 Z /news/crime/auckland-mum-jailed-after-infant-taken-to-starship-hospital-covered-in-bruises-fratures-on-every-limb/ /news/crime/auckland-mum-jailed-after-infant-taken-to-starship-hospital-covered-in-bruises-fratures-on-every-limb/ WARNING: Contains graphic content.  For about a year, neighbours could hear the constant crying of children from inside a Onehunga home.  Ominous signs of abuse were also picked up by the South Auckland daycare where the infant boy and his toddler sister, who lived at the property, spent most days.  There was lethargy, bruising, dirty clothes and nappies that appeared to have been left soiled from overnight.  After daycare staff, who had sent the boy home twice in one week, urged the children’s mother to take him to hospital, police became involved.  Now, the woman, who cannot be identified to protect the children’s identities, has been sent to prison this week after admitting to an Auckland District Court judge that she had neglected them both and inflicted injuries on the boy, resulting in a broken arm.  Co-defendant Kingston Tawhiti Edward Tierney-Hooker, who lived in the same household for a short period, stood beside her in the dock.  Tierney-Hooker, 25, was also initially charged with injuring the baby with reckless disregard, but that charge was dropped after the mother took responsibility for the injuries.  He was instead convicted of neglecting the boy by failing to get medical attention and was sentenced to nine months’ home detention.  “You have to realise ... there are consequences for your actions,” Judge Jonathan Moses said as he ordered three years’ imprisonment for the woman, explaining he needed to find a sentence that deterred others and, importantly, “denounces this kind of behaviour”.  Police began investigating the pair in January 2023, after the mother took her baby to Starship Hospital at the urging of daycare staff.  Doctors there compiled a list of more than 30 injuries, including the broken arm.  Judge Jonathan Moses, photographed presiding over a Palmerston North court martial in July 2024, sentenced a mother in Auckland District Court this week for abuse of her two young children. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson  “Numerous clustered injuries on [the child’s] face, scrotum, inside arms, and front and posterior torso, were visible,” court documents stated.  “Fractures affected all of his limbs, including his right and left forearms, his left upper and lower leg, his right lower leg near the knee and his right lower leg near the ankle.”  A blood test indicated the boy had likely suffered recent trauma. The doctor who examined him concluded the injuries had occurred sometime in the past four weeks, and they wouldn’t have been sustained “through typical infant movements”. The clustering of bruises also stood out.  “This indicated that [he] had experienced multiple applications of force to his body,” authorities noted. “The fact that [he] had multiple fractures at different stages of healing also indicated that [the baby] had experienced trauma of sufficient force to break bones on more than one occasion.”  Tierney-Hooker and the woman agreed to separate summaries of facts as part of their guilty pleas. The documents mimicked each other word-for-word in most regards, but Tierney-Hooker’s document stated the injuries were inflicted solely by the children’s mother.  The document agreed to by the woman stated “the injuries were inflicted by [the mother]”, but with a handwritten addendum stating: “and Mr Tierney-Hooker”.  Both sets of facts reported: “Daycare staff observed Mr Tierney-Hooker pick [the boy] up by his forearms or his clothes on occasion, in a manner that was inappropriate for handling an infant. On one occasion when this was raised with Mr Tierney-Hooker, he responded to the effect that [the baby] was okay.”  On other occasions, daycare workers noticed severe, untreated nappy rash, resulting in “significant blood and open skin” on the boy’s bottom.  The toddler was also taken to the doctor with a broken arm, one week before her brother. In addition, court documents outlined an incident in October 2022 when her mother went out drinking with friends in Lynfield and left the girl locked in an empty room without furniture.  “That night [the toddler] had a meltdown, running around, crying and banging for about 40 to 45 minutes,” court documents stated. “She slept on the floor of the empty room with a bag of snack food and a duvet.”  Since the pair’s arrests, the children have been in foster care through Oranga Tamariki.  “They’re thriving, apparently,” Crown prosecutor Clare Antenen said at the sentencing.  The children’s grandfather also addressed the judge, agreeing the children were doing well but emphasising they missed their mother and had trouble understanding why they couldn’t stay with her.  He added that he didn’t believe his daughter had neglected the children, suggesting if there was any emotional harm, it was from the children being removed from her care.  “Do you know what the injuries were to [the baby]?” the judge asked the grandfather. “He had fractures on every limb.”  The man insisted it hadn’t been proven his daughter inflicted the injuries but acknowledged it was “a very serious crime” she pleaded guilty to.  The judge noted the mother seemed to deny some responsibility in a pre-sentencing interview, but defence lawyer Sam Walker said any perceived minimisation by his client should probably be “put down to shame more than anything else”.  “She has said this is the biggest regret of her life,” he explained.  He noted the woman has since taken a 14-week parenting course, engaged in one-on-one counselling and has liaised with Oranga Tamariki about steps she can take to get her children back into her life.  Walker said the offending occurred in the backdrop of a fractious relationship with her own mother - in which she never had a strong, reliable female role model to base her parenting efforts on.  Judge Moses agreed, to an extent.  He ordered a starting point of three and a half years’ imprisonment for the woman’s neglect of the children, with another year and a half added for the boy’s injuries. He then allowed a 40% reduction to account for her guilty pleas, youth and lack of prior convictions, and her rehabilitation efforts and background.  “You are still young and I’m sure you’ll be young when you’re released from prison,” he said, encouraging her to continue addressing her background issues.  Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.  Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:16:07 Z /news/crime/hawke-s-bay-man-jailed-for-sexually-abusing-sister-in-law-for-more-than-four-years/ /news/crime/hawke-s-bay-man-jailed-for-sexually-abusing-sister-in-law-for-more-than-four-years/ WARNING: This article deals with sexual violation and family violence and may be upsetting for some readers. A young mother was sexually violated by her brother-in-law almost weekly for four years and was disbelieved when she tried to tell her family. However, a judge did believe her and her abuser is now beginning a lengthy jail term, after which he will be deported. “I will never forgive you. I will never forget the times you traumatised me,” the woman told her brother-in-law in a victim impact statement she read to the Napier District Court. The abuse started when the man came into her bedroom, where she was sleeping alongside her newborn baby, when she was 17 years old. She recalled the event as “the night you came into my room and put your dirty hands on my private parts right in front of my son”. “You did it for years,” she said. The man’s name cannot be published because this would lead to the identification of the victim, who has automatic name suppression. Father died before truth came out The woman said one of the saddest parts of her ordeal was that her father, one of the family members who did not believe her story, died before he could learn the truth. The woman told the court that she first met her abuser when he and her family were living in another country more than a decade ago. “I never liked you at all because I knew something was wrong with you,” she said. In the years that followed, the victim and her family, and the man, relocated to New Zealand. Do you have a justice story we should be covering?At the time the abuse began, the victim was spending the weekends at her parents’ home, where the man and his wife, the victim’s sister, also resided. The man would go into the room where she slept at the Hastings address and sexually violate her. He did this “almost on a weekly basis” for more than four years. The abuse came to an end around 2022 and the man went on to be charged with two counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection – one specifically for the first time he did it, and a representative charge for all the subsequent occasions. He was also charged with indecent assault, relating to a time when he touched her through her underwear and asked her for sex. Man denied offending happened The man denied the abuse had happened but was found guilty by Judge Duncan Harvey after a trial in February. The man was also convicted of family violence against his wife, including a time when he swung a knife at her in a car and another when he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her around a room. He pushed her to the ground on another occasion, causing her to fall on to her stomach when she was more than 30 weeks pregnant. Judge Harvey sent the man to prison for seven years for the sexual offending and added a cumulative sentence of 18 months for the family violence, resulting in an overall sentence of eight years and six months. The court was told the man was an overstayer who would be deported upon release from prison. Judge Duncan Harvey said the woman's evidence had the "ring of truth". Photo / 九一星空无限 Judge Harvey’s decision after the trial recorded parts of a police interview the sexual abuse victim gave in which she recalled the point where she had “had enough”. “I told [my sister] and my Dad about it, and both didn’t believe me,” she said. The sister gave evidence at trial in which she confirmed the victim had told her what the man had been doing, but she did not believe her. The man denied the allegations when interviewed by police. His lawyer submitted at trial that the Crown had not proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. But Judge Harvey focused on evidence related to an incident soon after the man arrived in New Zealand, where he asked the victim, his sister-in-law, to take her pants down and show him her genitals. Evidence had ‘ring of truth’ “That evidence has a ring of truth,” the judge’s decision said. “It would be an extraordinary thing for [the woman] who ... appeared totally without guile and relatively unsophisticated, to invent such an incident. “What makes the evidence so important in my view, however, is that it establishes that from the time the defendant arrived in New Zealand, he had a sexual interest in [his sister-in-law]. “I found [the woman] to be a very careful witness. During the course of her evidence, it was put to her on a number of occasions that she was a liar. “On each occasion, she quietly and calmly said that she would not lie about things like this. “Despite various propositions being put to her, she remained consistent, and she did not retract or modify what she had already said.” Judge Harvey said that the woman’s explanation for not complaining earlier also rang true, and research had established “very clearly” that victims of sexual abuse do not necessarily avoid their abuser, because of family dynamics. He found the man guilty of the sexual violation and indecent assault charges. At the sentencing hearing, the woman said that “the darkness lifted” when she heard that the man had been found guilty. SEXUAL HARM Where to get help:If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334• Email support@safetotalk.nz• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nzAlternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault. FAMILY VIOLENCE How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.Where to go for help or more information:• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.How to hide your visit:If you are reading this information on the Herald website and you're worried that someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, you can follow the steps at the link here to hide your visit. Each of the websites above also has a section that outlines this process. Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined 九一星空无限’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer. Thu, 12 Jun 2025 08:50:35 Z /news/crime/man-who-killed-auckland-scientist-stephen-thorpe-near-blockhouse-bay-tennis-club-deemed-unfit-to-stand-trial/ /news/crime/man-who-killed-auckland-scientist-stephen-thorpe-near-blockhouse-bay-tennis-club-deemed-unfit-to-stand-trial/ Auckland man found unfit to stand trial for the fatal stabbing of entomologist Stephen Thorpe. The 27-year-old defendant, whose identity is suppressed, remains at the Mason Clinic. Thorpe, described as a “gentle, eccentric scientist”, contributed significantly to entomology in New Zealand. An Auckland man accused of fatally stabbing highly regarded entomologist Stephen Thorpe last August had previously confided in friends that he was “seeing things”, including the devil. Details of his mental health history were publicly revealed for the first time in the High Court at Auckland today as the 27-year-old defendant reappeared before Justice Graham Lang. At a brief hearing last month, which had been suppressed until this afternoon, Judge Lang found the man unfit to stand trial. Most of the hearing remains suppressed, apart from the result. At today’s hearing, the judge found that “on the balance of probabilities” the defendant killed Thorpe even though he can’t be found guilty because of his mental illness. Defence lawyer Sam Wimsett, serving as standby counsel because the defendant has not been well enough to give him instructions, did not dispute the finding. The defendant, who lived in the same Blockhouse Bay neighbourhood where the attack occurred, will keep his identity suppressed for now. Thorpe was on his daily stroll, looking for bugs near the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club, when he was killed. “When he [the defendant] arrived at the tennis club, he must have encountered Mr Thorpe,” the judge said, adding that “it is not known what then happened”. Evidence indicates the man stabbed Thorpe before dropping the knife. “I am therefore satisfied ... that [he] committed the act that caused Mr Thorpe’s death.” Justice Lang reached his conclusion based on witness statements, crime scene evidence and photos, which the Crown would have submitted had the case gone to trial. Stephen Thorpe's funeral was held at the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club, where he spent nearly every day and where he was stabbed to death in August 2024. Photo / Dean Purcell It included Thorpe’s apparent blood found on the defendant’s shoes and pants, CCTV footage that showed a man matching the defendant’s description walking to and from the scene and a bloody, partially opened knife found near a drain at the scene. It was engraved with an unusual name that the defendant was known to use online. After today’s hearing, which lasted about 30 minutes and was attended remotely by Thorpe’s father from overseas, the defendant was returned to the Mason Clinic - a lockdown psychiatric facility where he has been since his arrest. A follow-up disposition hearing next month will determine whether he will be made a long-term special patient at the clinic. Daylight attack The defendant was arrested days after the daytime stabbing, which took place in the car park of the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club as Saturday revellers enjoyed the facilities and the nearby reserve. Police have never publicly suggested a motive for the seemingly random attack. The two men did not know each other personally. Police pictured investigating the stabbing of scientist Stephen Thorpe near the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club. Photo / Michael Craig. Although it was a Saturday, Thorpe, 54, had been at work that day inside the Whau River Catchment Trust office, underneath the tennis club. He worked seven days a week, and always took a breather around 11.30am to go for a walk while scouring the area for bugs, an officemate previously told the Herald. But as he went outside that day, cries for help were heard, Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said in the days after the incident. ”The staff member witnessed the victim in a violent struggle and went to get a phone to call for help." A doctor who happened to be at the club that day stepped in to help, but he couldn’t find a pulse. Thorpe was declared dead at the scene when paramedics arrived a short time later. He was later determined to have died from blood loss after a single stab wound to the neck. Residents in the area were unnerved when it was learned that the alleged killer lived nearby. A former flatmate of the defendant described him to the Herald as someone who preferred to keep to himself, rarely engaging with others he lived with. LSD and ‘bouts of anger’ Longtime friends of the defendant said his personality started to change around 2013, when he started regularly using drugs, including LSD and cannabis. By 2019, the regular drug use “was having a marked effect on him”, the judge said. “[His] friends noticed that, by 2020, he had started to talk about ‘seeing things’, including the devil,” Justice Lang added. “He also displayed bouts of anger they had never seen before.” By 2022, he became the subject of a compulsory treatment order due to his mental illness. The following year, he was described by those around him as acting erratically and seeming to experience hallucinations. Police respond to the scene of Stephen Thorpe's death outside the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club in Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell One friend who is now a police officer said the defendant had been known in the past to carry knives. He recalled a text the defendant sent him one day in 2023 announcing a new name and saying his legal name “never really existed”. The new name he gave matched the one etched on the knife that police found at the crime scene. Police also found a vape at the scene, similar to ones found at the defendant’s home and with what appeared to be matching DNA. ‘Walking encyclopaedia’ Friends and colleagues of Thorpe described him as a gentle, eccentric scientist who lived and breathed his passion for entomology. He had no family in New Zealand but formed bonds through his research. The former University of Auckland employee, who had degrees in chemistry and philosophy, spent about a decade working in the School of Biological Sciences laboratory. Although he had most recently worked out of the Whau River Catchment Trust office, he did not work for the agency, instead doing contract work for Landcare Research and other organisations. He had contributed an estimated 12,000 insect specimens to Auckland Museum, where he volunteered in the 2000s, and nine new species had been named after him. A funeral for Stephen Thorpe was held at the Blockhouse Bay Tennis Club. Photo / Dean Purcell John Early, a former entomology curator at the museum, previously described Thorpe as having “a prodigious memory, particularly for all the scientific literature about New Zealand beetles”. “His death is tragic and untimely, not just for its horrific circumstances but also that his valuable contribution to New Zealand entomology is now ended,” he said. Such sentiments were echoed by others in the scientific community. University of Auckland professor Jacqueline Beggs described Thorpe as a “walking encyclopaedia”, known for generously sharing his knowledge with students and for his “uncanny ability” to spot the most unusual and important insect specimens. Gary Andrew, who worked beside Thorpe at the Blockhouse Bay office and who would later speak at his well-attended funeral at the tennis club, said his colleague and friend was best understood from the perspective of neurodiversity. He often had a dishevelled appearance that led some people to mistakenly believe he was homeless. Thorpe had told friends in the years before his death that he suspected he was on the autism spectrum, the friend said. “He was a small, slightly built, well-spoken, educated, gentle guy who would just never hurt a fly,” Andrew explained, adding that all of Thorpe’s possessions would probably have fitted in a small trundler. ”He was wanting of nothing," Andrew said at the funeral. “He was content. All he needed was his microscope. ”Stephen only wanted to be in a lab somewhere with insects and entomologists.” Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Thu, 12 Jun 2025 04:17:45 Z /news/crime/pukekohe-michael-hill-jewellery-store-robbery-teens-in-court-after-alleged-aggravated-heist/ /news/crime/pukekohe-michael-hill-jewellery-store-robbery-teens-in-court-after-alleged-aggravated-heist/ Two teenagers are among a trio set to appear in court facing aggravated robbery charges after an alleged heist at a Michael Hill jewellery store involving an axe and hammer. Counties Manukau Police said they have been investigating after a group allegedly entered the Michael Hill branch in King St, Pukekohe, at 5.45pm last Friday. Those arrested, aged 15, 17 and 20, were due to appear in a Manukau court today, charged with aggravated robbery and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. Detective Inspector Karen Bright said a vehicle of interest was identified at a Henderson petrol station around midnight last night. “West Auckland police responded quickly to Lincoln Rd and, with the assistance of the police Eagle helicopter, stopped the vehicle,” she said. “Three occupants of the vehicle aged between 15 and 20 were arrested.” Bright said she acknowledged the careful coordination of all police staff involved in last night’s operation. “We’re incredibly pleased with the progress made by the enquiry team over the past six days. “Police take this sort of aggravated offending seriously and work to hold offenders to account as swiftly as possible.” An employee at a nearby restaurant on the night confirmed to the Herald that the Michael Hill store was targeted in the robbery just before closing time. Thu, 12 Jun 2025 03:04:07 Z /news/crime/man-jailed-for-campaign-of-violence-and-terror-against-woman-and-child/ /news/crime/man-jailed-for-campaign-of-violence-and-terror-against-woman-and-child/ WARNING: This story is about family violence and may be distressing. A mother was in tears as she shut her eyes and blocked her ears when a man’s campaign of terror over her family was revealed in court. She had endured ongoing violence from him over a six-month period, before he turned his attention to her daughter. The woman’s tears continued as her daughter went on to describe how his actions had affected her too. “It has changed my life, since the abuse happened, I don’t feel like a normal kid anymore, I feel nervous. The girl was 11 when the man, who has name suppression, showed her online pornography, told her to undress and then indecently assaulted her. “I don’t trust people like I used to, I have a hard time focusing on school now, I try to pay attention, but my head goes blank, I feel like I can’t keep up anymore,” she told the court during his sentencing this week. “I just get angry, other times I start crying, people think I am being dramatic, but they don’t know what is going on inside. “I can’t be around crowds, I used to be happier, more outgoing and confident, I have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “I didn’t deserve what happened and I don’t want to feel like this forever.” The pair were caught up in what was described by Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch District Court as a campaign of violence and terror. Judge Neave said the offending occurred during a sustained period of violence, fear and control. “They must have been living in fear.” Weekly beatings The court heard of numerous assaults; the man had initially accused the girl’s mother of cheating and pushed her up against a wall, about six months into their relationship. He then backhand punched her while she was holding a baby in the back seat of a car he was driving. After that he started verbally abusing her almost every day . “She would get a hiding at least once a week,” Judge Neave said. He would punch her while she was holding an infant, and sometimes in the face. Another incident resulted in a permanent scar on her neck. Christchurch District Court Photo / Nate McKinnon, RNZ On yet another occasion, he held a kitchen knife to her neck and applied pressure. “She thought you were going to kill her,” the judge said. The assaults continued after she discovered she was pregnant. The woman told the man in a statement she read in court that she “walked on eggshells” around him as the assaults happened while the children were present. One thing that could not be excused was the sexual abuse of her daughter, she said. “She was 11, the fact she looked up to her, you have caused trauma that will never be erased. “I am terrified of seeing you again, it is essential for everyone here to understand the impact of his actions.” Victim shuts her eyes and blocks her ears The woman, who was visibly emotional throughout the proceedings, shut her eyes and blocked her ears as Judge Neave started to sentence the man. “I have received a lot of information about you; there is lack of empathy and minimisation.” Some of the offending occurred while the man was coming down from methamphetamine, the judge said. There had been a background of health difficulties, family problems and a history of drug use. Judge Neave said it was possible other factors were paired in the man’s inability to make sound judgments, but not a “huge” link. “This was sustained violence, assault in varying types, use of weapons, any number of household items available to you. “The victim suffered from a number of injuries; they were varied and numerous and repeated.” At times the victim was very vulnerable because of her pregnancy, especially when she was on the ground during the assaults, the judge said. Judge Neave said the assault against the child victim was aggravated by the viewing of pornography. “It was sustained and intrusive.” Violent and sexual offending Crown prosecutor Penny Brown said it was both violent and sexual offending with numerous and extensive attacks to the neck and in the presence of children. There was also a risk to an unborn child, she said. “I want to say the guilty plea was extremely late, it spared the young victim from giving evidence at trial.” Defence lawyer Kathy Basire said there were multiple reports and letters of support and she described him as a “different man now”. She said a sentence of home detention could be reached. There was a “nexus” with his background issues in terms of the offending, she said. Judge Neave responded, saying the man had turned into a “violent terrorist in the home”. Basire said he was coming down off methamphetamine. “It doesn’t justify or explain six months of violence,” the judge said. Judge Neave jailed the man for two years and 10 months on charges of an indecent act with a child, exposure of a young person to indecent material, assault with a weapon (representative), assault on a person in a family relationship (representative) and assault on a person in a family relationship. FAMILY VIOLENCE How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.Where to go for help or more information:• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.How to hide your visit:If you are reading this information on the Herald website and you're worried that someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, you can follow the steps at the link here to hide your visit. Each of the websites above also has a section that outlines this process. Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands 九一星空无限. Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:50:57 Z /news/crime/drunk-man-assaults-woman-while-watching-netflix-kicks-nelson-hospital-doctor-in-groin/ /news/crime/drunk-man-assaults-woman-while-watching-netflix-kicks-nelson-hospital-doctor-in-groin/ What started as a playful tap on the cheek as they watched Netflix ended with a man punching a woman and knocking her down before stabbing a knife into the floor around her head. He later kicked an emergency doctor in the groin, after he was taken to Nelson Hospital for assessment because of his level of intoxication, causing the doctor to reel away in pain. Leonard Jaron Timoteo Walterfang admitted the charges that arose from the violent incident in the Nelson District Court and has since been sentenced. ‘A few drinks’ On April 1 last year, Walterfang and the woman were relaxing in front of the television after having a few drinks. In Walterfang’s case, it was “two to three bottles of wine”, the police summary of facts said. As they watched TV the woman joked with Walterfang and tapped him on the cheeks in a playful manner. He got angry and suddenly slapped her hard in the face. She was so shocked she asked him to leave, which enraged him further. Police said the altercation continued to the hallway and outside the kitchen where he punched the woman with a closed fist twice in the stomach. She fell backwards onto the ground as Walterfang walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He then thrust the knife into the floor near her head multiple times while smiling at her. Fearing she would be stabbed, the woman managed to get away and call the police. Walterfang held the knife in a threatening and intimidating matter as she called police. He then put the knife down, sat on the couch and waited for the police to arrive. He was arrested and taken to Nelson Hospital for assessment because of how intoxicated he was, but while being assessed he kicked the doctor in the groin. Walterfang was removed from the emergency department and kicked a police constable hard in the shin while being escorted to a patrol car. Police said at the time the woman did not appear to have any injuries, but expected bruising might have shown in the days following. The 35-year-old received 150 hours of community work, 18 months of intensive supervision and was ordered to pay $1000 in reparation on various assault charges, including assaulting police and assaulting a person assisting the police. Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at 九一星空无限. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail. Wed, 11 Jun 2025 02:43:07 Z /news/crime/papatoetoe-bus-stop-death-driver-faces-manslaughter-charge-in-court/ /news/crime/papatoetoe-bus-stop-death-driver-faces-manslaughter-charge-in-court/ A bus driver accused of fatally assaulting a man at a South Auckland bus stop has appeared for the first time in the High Court at Auckland for a charge of manslaughter.  During the brief hearing, defence lawyer Tua Saseve asked that pleas not immediately be entered for Mikaele Ah Fook, 34.  Justice Mathew Downs allowed the delay, ordering Ah Fook to return to court in two weeks for the process to be completed. The judge also delayed setting a trial date until the next hearing.  Auckland resident Peter Mark Te Kira, 61, was found unconscious at a Papatoetoe bus stop on Great South Rd on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27.  He died several days later, in the intensive care unit at Auckland City Hospital.  In a tribute after his death, his daughter described him as “the most hard-working man”.  Peter Te Kira died on Wednesday 30 April after he was allegedly assaulted by a bus driver on Great South Rd in Papatoetoe, Auckland, on 27 April. Photo / Supplied  Te Kira and Ah Fook had been known to each other, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Hayward said last month.  Ah Fook was initially charged out of Manukau District Court with assault. The charge was upgraded to manslaughter last month, at which point it was transferred to the High Court.  Auckland Transport confirmed to the Herald that Ah Fook was taken off duty after the incident.  ”We were devastated to hear about this incident and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic event,“ said Stacey van der Putten, AT director of public transport and active modes.  She noted that Ah Fook was employed by Go Bus, a company that contracts with AT to provide services.  “AT is taking this incident extremely seriously and both AT and Go Bus are assisting police,” she said.  A small crowd sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery during the hearing, leaving after Ah Fook, who is on bail, was allowed to leave the dock.  He was ordered to return to the High Court on June 25.  Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.  Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:05:35 Z /news/crime/drug-smuggling-bigamist-amir-mohebbi-jailed-for-rape/ /news/crime/drug-smuggling-bigamist-amir-mohebbi-jailed-for-rape/ A drug-smuggling bigamist who New Zealand authorities have been trying to deport since his arrival as a self-proclaimed refugee nearly 30 years ago has been jailed for rape and other charges. Amir Hoshang Mohebbi, 52, was first ordered sent back to Iran in 1998 after losing an asylum claim one year after his arrival. However, he short-circuited the system after refusing to apply for an Iranian passport and was at one point deemed New Zealand’s longest-ever remand prisoner. In 2018, he was sentenced to a 10-year prison sentence for the importation of methamphetamine. He was still on parole when the latest crimes occurred in 2021. “I hope you feel as small and terrified as you made me feel,” his victim said through tears as she confronted him today in Auckland District Court. Mohebbi covered his face throughout the statement and for the vast majority of today’s hearing, which was attended by several media outlets and more than a dozen supporters for the victim. The young woman was highly intoxicated after joining her friends at a bottomless brunch in Mt Eden in June 2021 when Mohebbi, a stranger, raped her at his Auckland Central apartment while she was in and out of consciousness. At one point, Judge Kirsten Lummis pointed out today, the victim began to cry while being violated. “Your response was to shush her,” the judge said. Mohebbi later threatened to kill the woman if she told anyone. It took months for authorities to identify him via a DNA match. “You made every day a living hell,” the woman said today, describing the terror of not knowing if she had been given a disease or impregnated as well as the terror of knowing he was somewhere out there - not yet arrested. “I rarely have nights where I don’t suffer from nightmares.” Amir Hoshang Mohebbi, 52, was first ordered sent back to Iran in 1998 after losing an asylum claim one year after his arrival. Photo / Jason Dorday As a result, she’s found herself fearful of living in New Zealand and has often travelled overseas. She still feels triggered living in Auckland even knowing he’s now in prison, she said, explaining that she can no longer drink with friends or date due to her ongoing anxiety. During a trial in February, jurors were shown CCTV footage in which the woman was seen leaving a bar without her friends around 4.24pm. Mohebbi told jurors that he met the woman, about 30 years his junior, outside the Pitt St fire station and he took her to his nearby apartment after she expressed interest in a three-way sexual encounter. His account of what followed was not credible to the jury nor the judge. “Your evidence sounded like a sexual fantasy of what you wished had happened that day,” Judge Lummis said. “She was simply in no position to consent due to her level of intoxication... You took complete advantage of the situation you found yourself in.” She ordered a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment. Much of Mohebbi’s long and strange history in New Zealand was outlined in a 2022 Immigration and Protection Tribunal decision rejecting his latest asylum appeal. As a Catholic convert, his life would be in danger if he was to return to Iran, he has repeatedly argued with little success. He was convicted in 2000 of bigamy and making a false oath upon his entry into New Zealand, failing to mention that his first marriage - to a woman he married in Iran in 1994 - had not been dissolved. One year later, he was convicted of breaching a protection order that had been granted to his second wife. In January 2003, he was ordered deported again but again refused to renew his Iranian passport. Parliament quickly amended the Immigration Act so that he could be held in custody until the passport issue was resolved. He was eventually released from Mt Eden Prison on bail in 2007 after earning the dubious distinction at the time as the longest-detained remand prisoner ever in New Zealand. He had been in custody for three years and 10 months. A High Court judge said at the time that his continued detention had become “arbitrary” and therefore breached the Bill of Rights. Amir Mohebbi, photographed at his South Auckland home in 2007, upon his release from Mt Eden Prison following nearly four years as a remand prisoner refusing deportation orders to Iran. Photo / Dean Purcell He was finally granted a residence visa in 2010 based on his relationship with a new partner. But court records from his 2018 methamphetamine sentencing showed he began importing the drug as early as June 2010, when Customs intercepted 81.2g of methamphetamine hidden inside a photo frame that had been shipped from Iran. He was released from prison on parole in November 2020 and was issued a deportation notice the following July but remained in the community while appealing the order. “Since his release from prison, the appellant states that he has done everything he can to move forward with his life and not to repeat his previous mistakes,” the tribunal noted in its 2022 decision. “He engaged with all his supports until he started employment and complied with parole requirements, including reporting to his probation officer every two weeks and passing drug tests. “The appellant is remorseful for his offending. He states that he has no excuse and apologises to the New Zealand public for what he has done. He states that he has learned a lot about himself in prison and during the programmes he completed, and he will never offend again.” The decision was published in April 2022. He had already raped the victim one year earlier. Defence lawyer Dale Dufty said his client developed a drug addiction after a back injury at work. He described Mohebbi as having had “an unfortunate run” since his arrival in New Zealand, including a brutal attack while at Mt Eden in the mid-2000s. His client’s mental health appears to have deteriorated after 28 years of stress about always-pending deportation orders, he suggested. “This may have led him to an anti-social and less rational way of thinking,” Dufty said. Auckland District Court Judge Kirsten Lummis. Photo / Alex Burton Crown prosecutor Daniel Becker argued that Mohebbi’s background might have contributed to his previous drug offending, but it had no nexus with the rape charges. Mohebbi faced up to 20 years’ imprisonment after being found guilty following a February trial. In addition to rape, he was convicted of indecent assault, unlawful sexual connection and threatening to kill. She declined to uplift the sentence for his prior drug offences because they were not relevant but did order an uplift for having offended while on parole. She noted that Mohebbi has been assessed as being a high risk of re-offending. She apologised to the victim for any part the court played in the “extreme” delay for the case, acknowledging that she had felt re-traumatised by the justice process. Judge Lummis said the offending was aggravated by the victim’s vulnerability. Her much younger age and obvious intoxication should have given Mohebbi pause, she said. “This wasn’t sexual activity she engaged in, in any way,” the judge said. “It was very much a one-way street.” SEXUAL HARM Where to get help:If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334• Email support@safetotalk.nz• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nzAlternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault. Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Tue, 10 Jun 2025 04:09:45 Z /news/crime/pregnant-woman-pushed-over-in-whakat%C4%81ne-dairy-robbery/ /news/crime/pregnant-woman-pushed-over-in-whakat%C4%81ne-dairy-robbery/ Staff are shaken after an attempted robbery at a Whakatāne dairy where a pregnant woman was thrown to the ground and a residential property was invaded. Allandale Superette owner Pawik Patel said he was asleep on the morning of May 31 – his day off – when a man burst into his house demanding money. Patel claimed that before forcing his way into his home, the man had entered the adjoining dairy and assaulted the shopkeeper before appearing to get spooked by the deployed fog cannon. CCTV footage seen by the Whakatāne Beacon captured the full incident. About 7am, the man jumped Patel’s fence and spent about 20 minutes testing all doors on the residential property to see if he could find one that was unlocked. He also interfered with two vehicles parked outside the house. At one point, he can be seen ducking below the fence line to avoid being seen by a passing car. At 7.20am, the man entered the superette and asked the employee to buy a phone charger, but said he wanted to see that it fitted his phone, first. The female staff member can be seen gesturing for the man to try the charger over the main counter, but the man came around the side instead. As the woman put the charger near his phone, he put his hand over her mouth and shoved her to the ground. She was able to trigger the fog cannon as the altercation unfolded. The man allegedly dragged her to a back room and left her on the ground as he turned to the adjoining house. Patel said the staff member was seven months pregnant and was not meant to be working, but she had come in at the last-minute to cover for an unwell colleague. He said all she was concerned about was whether her baby was okay. A hospital check after the assault confirmed both mum and baby were healthy. The intruder gained access to the residential property by forcing open a door. He went straight to the bedroom where Patel’s father was sleeping and allegedly demanded money. Patel claimed his father climbed out his bedroom window to get away from the man and hurt his abdomen as a result. “One second you’re waking up and the next there is someone in your face demanding money.” Patel said he eventually realised the man was looking for an escape. When the man left the house, Patel claimed he jumped the fence and spent some time looking around his neighbour’s yard. This is the third time Allandale Superette has been robbed while owned by Patel and his family. Their Goulstone Rd dairy, Aotearoa Superette, has been the victim of similar offending twice. The offending had a traumatic effect, he said, and made him question all sorts of bumps in the night – including the strong wind Whakatāne had on Wednesday. He regularly checked his doors were locked and looked at his cameras before going outside. But it hadn’t affected the way the Patels interacted with their customers, some of whom were present and sprang into action to help that Saturday. According to court documents, a 33-year-old man has been charged in connection with the offending. He is due to appear in Whakatāne District Court this month on charges of assault with intent to rob Allandale Superette, intentional damage, being found without reasonable excuse within a yard, two counts of unlawfully entering buildings at the address and two counts of dishonestly interfering with motor vehicles. Tue, 10 Jun 2025 03:15:09 Z /news/crime/hamilton-homicide-man-admits-murdering-baby-trying-to-kill-a-woman-and-child/ /news/crime/hamilton-homicide-man-admits-murdering-baby-trying-to-kill-a-woman-and-child/ A 34-year-old man has admitted murdering a baby and trying to kill a woman and another child in a New Year’s Day attack this year. The Hamilton infant died at a home on January 1, and an older child and a woman, understood to be their mother, were also attacked. 九一星空无限 understands the woman was stabbed in the neck. This morning, a man reappeared in the High Court at Hamilton, where he pleaded guilty to murder and two charges of attempted murder. Defence counsel Richard Barnsdale made an application for his client’s name to be permanently suppressed. Justice Kiri Tahana scheduled a date for that application to be heard in August and ordered interim suppression to continue. Police forensics staff on a Hamilton street, where a baby was killed, and two others seriously injured. Photo / Dean Purcell Crown Solicitor Rebecca Mann said she would likely file an application for permanent suppression of the victims’ names. After reading reports that the defendant was not mentally impaired, Justice Tahana convicted the man and remanded him in custody for sentencing in September. Witnesses recount the horror While the media was declined a copy of the court’s summary of facts today, due to issues around identifying victims, 九一星空无限 spoke to several witnesses at the time of the incident. As police carried out their scene examination at the victims’ home and another house on the street, blood was seen smeared on the walls of the porch and the front door frame of the second house. The residents at the property declined to comment, but others said the offender was stopped by police dogs nearby. Do you have a justice story we should be covering?He had been jumping fences, moving between properties, trying to escape police, they said. One local resident who said he was one of the first on scene, said: “I knew the baby was gone ... it was lifeless”. He saw a man dragging a woman, bleeding from the neck, across the street. “I was trying to look for [the alleged offender] to make sure the kids were okay because we know that they had kids there,” he said. The last time he saw the injured woman, she couldn’t breathe properly but was speaking. Another neighbour said she and others helped keep two uninjured children safe, wrapping them in blankets. “[One child] was playing with a doll, and she mimicked what she saw. The trauma that poor child has to live with.” Near where the man was found, large pools of dried blood could be seen on the footpath. The incident brought many neighbours to tears. Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at 九一星空无限 for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21. Tue, 10 Jun 2025 02:46:29 Z /news/crime/bay-of-plenty-private-ambulance-operators-accused-of-altering-records-to-obtain-morphine-and-fentanyl/ /news/crime/bay-of-plenty-private-ambulance-operators-accused-of-altering-records-to-obtain-morphine-and-fentanyl/ Records from a private ambulance service show paramedics claimed to have treated a patient who had been dead for three years. Another form suggested a female rider was treated by the paramedics at a horse riding event, despite her having given birth by C-section just weeks earlier and not being in any condition to ride. The Crown pointed to these records in its opening of a jury trial in Tauranga where a couple, who ran a private ambulance service in the Bay of Plenty, are accused of deceiving doctors to obtain morphine and fentanyl. The bulk of the charges specify allegations of doctoring and reproducing records to account for the large amounts of drugs they procured. Rebecca Couchman and Craig Lohgan, who also used the surname McLaren, collectively face 35 charges, related to their operation of EMC Ambulance, or Emergency Medical Care Ltd, out of Kawerau. They both deny all charges, which include forgery, obtaining by deception, using an altered document, and administering and possessing a class B controlled drug. Lohgan is being referred to as “Mr McLaren” during the trial, but is referred to as Lohgan on the charge list. Craig Lohgan and Rebecca Couchman (R), who also use the surname McLaren, collectively face 35 charges related to using altered documents to obtain class B controlled drugs morphine and fentanyl, when they operated a private ambulance. ‘Experienced paramedics’ Crown prosecutor Laura Clay said the pair held themselves out to be “experienced paramedics” and deceived a number of doctors. They allegedly used their relationships with these doctors, who were appointed as medical directors, to procure “thousands” of ampoules of morphine and fentanyl. “Not only did they procure those drugs, they also took it upon themselves to administer the medication to vulnerable members of the public,” Clay said. Clay explained to the jury that up until 2020, anyone could set up a private ambulance service. They primarily contracted services to private event organisers, including equestrian and motocross events, and alarm companies. A private ambulance could not respond to 111 calls, nor was it entitled to subsidised medicines. The Crown claims Couchman and Lohgan managed to get “standing orders” that allowed them to administer controlled drugs, such as fentanyl and morphine. The Crown claims the defendants “provided themselves” with certification, and managed to “deceive” medical professionals into signing standing orders, based on their “incorrect” belief that they were qualified. Despite this, the defendants were “covered” by the standing orders, so only face charges of illegally administering class B drugs for a limited period the Crown says fell outside the time the standing orders were in place. The bulk of the charges they face relate to reproducing “patient report forms” and the reporting of these on the controlled drug register. The Crown gave examples of forms that related to things that happened years before the dates on the form, including one that outlined the treatment of a man who had in fact died three years before the treatment date. Another was a form for a rider who had fallen from her horse at a Tauranga Racecourse event in February 2016. The form detailed her injuries and treatment, which included a 5mcg dose of morphine. The Crown says that was the “original” form. The Crown says another form under the same patient name, with similar details was dated December 1, 2017, and indicated a 6mcg morphine dose and two further doses being “drawn and dumped”. The horse rider would give evidence she was treated in 2016 but was just a few weeks postpartum on the 2017 date. “There is no way she was riding horses on the 1st of December, 2017,” Clay said. Clay said there had been about 80 patient report forms provided to a doctor, who has interim name suppression and was a former medical director of the private ambulance service, as part of an audit. The audit was triggered, the Crown says, when a locum pharmacist at a Kawerau pharmacy became suspicious about the quantity of morphine and fentanyl being supplied to the private ambulance. The Crown says the patient report forms, alongside the controlled drugs register, are a “falsity”. They were created, and provided to the then-medical director, “for the express purpose of creating a guise as to what has occurred for the significant quantity of controlled drugs received by the defendants”. The Crown case is that the false document trail was created to satisfy the audit and keep the “supply chain of the controlled drugs flowing”. The Crown says the pair also reproduced false forms, with unauthorised sign-off from a medical director, to receive controlled drugs from medical wholesaler Onelink. ‘Forged’ framed university qualifications were a ‘vision board’, defence says The couple are also charged with creating forged university qualifications – framed certificates police found hanging in their home during a search warrant, purporting to be from overseas universities. The defence accepts the documents were false, but Couchman’s lawyer Martin Hine said, in his defence opening statement, that it wasn’t used to deceive anyone, and was never “proffered or relied upon”. “Ms Couchman didn’t have a Bachelor of Science in Paramedic Studies from the University of Limerick,” Hine said. The framed certificate was created by her as a “vision board”, formed around the belief that if you can conceive of it, you can achieve it, and it was an “aspirational aid”, not intended to be “used or acted upon”. Hine said the trial was a “complex” case, not because of the facts, but because of the overlaying law. This included aspects that related to the defendants being charged as “parties” to the various offences. He also covered aspects related to the defendants’ intent, and pointed to questions around how the various documents had actually been used. Hine said there had never been deception in the application to medical wholesaler Onelink, and had been “no false representation” or intention to deceive. “There was no knowledge the application forms contained any false material... nor was anyone actually deceived... the documents were exactly what they purported to be.” Hine said the patient report forms the Crown says were reproduced in their efforts to procure drugs had been altered for “training purposes only”, and there was no evidence they had anything to do with acquiring controlled drugs. Lohgan’s lawyer, Paul Devoy, did not make an opening statement. The trial before Judge David Cameron is expected to go into next week. Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at 九一星空无限. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at 九一星空无限talk ZB. Mon, 09 Jun 2025 08:57:04 Z /news/crime/man-hands-himself-into-police-station-after-hit-and-run-of-women-and-dogs/ /news/crime/man-hands-himself-into-police-station-after-hit-and-run-of-women-and-dogs/ A man has handed himself in to police and been charged after the hit-and-run of two women and their dogs in north Auckland. Mitchell Prouse’s mother and her friend were walking along Attwood Rd in Pāremoremo yesterday morning when a white ute hit them from behind. “Mum went over the front of the car and Sue got flung sideways. Both the dogs got hit,” Prouse told the Herald He got to the scene and found his mum lying in a ditch. “It was the worst image you could have of your parents. It was panic, and then rage, that someone could have treated your family like that and left them.” Luna was hit while walking with her owner's mother, and her friend and her dog. Police said a 39-year-old man had been charged with failing to stop and ascertain injury and two counts of careless driving causing injury. The man was due to appear in the North Shore District Court next month. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Williams said the police investigation was ongoing. Police had earlier confirmed the utility vehicle was travelling along Attwood towards Pāremoremo Rd andhad been noticeably damaged in the crash. Police have asked anyone with information to phone 105 and quote the reference number 250608/7303. Information could also be shared anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. Prouse was scathing of whoever was responsible. “They’re a coward if they’re going to drive off. The longer you leave it, the harder it gets,” he said. Last night, Prouse told the Herald his mother remained in hospital with several broken ribs and fractures. One of the dogs hit was Prouse’s, a huntaway named Luna. A resident found her walking along the road after the crash. The other dog, Mackay, was so badly injured it remained with a veterinarian with injured bones, lungs, hips and a broken jaw, Prouse said. Emergency services were called about 7.10am on Sunday. Both women were taken to hospital, one with serious injuries and the other in a moderate condition. Prouse got a telephone call from a neighbour. “I had this frantic, ‘Mum’s been hit, dog’s gone. We’re in the ditch, you need to get here now’. “I almost left the door in my dressing gown. But I ran downstairs, chucked on some shorts, the shirt didn’t even really make it on, and I just ran.” Mon, 09 Jun 2025 01:58:55 Z /news/crime/fourth-person-charged-with-manslaughter-over-fatal-loafers-lodge-fire/ /news/crime/fourth-person-charged-with-manslaughter-over-fatal-loafers-lodge-fire/ A fourth person has been charged with manslaughter for the deaths of five people in the Loafers Lodge hostel fire in Wellington. The blaze, which happened two years ago, was allegedly caused by arson. A man is due to go on trial later this year for murder. Police last week announced they were charging three people with manslaughter for their roles in building management and operating the fire safety system of the hostel. Police indicated they were also speaking to a fourth person and would likely charge him too, and this morning confirmed this had happened. Detective Sergeant Olivia Meares said in a statement the man was arrested this morning. The man appeared in the Wellington District Court this morning and was remanded to reappear in the high court next month. The four people facing manslaughter charges are a 70-year-old woman and three men, aged 75, 58, and 72. Five people died in the Loafers Lodge fire. They were Mike Wahrlich, Liam Hockings, Peter O'Sullivan, Melvin Parun and Kenneth Barnard. The charges relate to the defendants’ management and operation of the building, with police alleging they were responsible for aspects of the building’s fire safety system. The fire on Adelaide Rd broke out about 12.30am on May 16, 2023. The family of one of the victims has supported the step, saying everybody deserved a safe place to live, and that they hoped this process meant their loved one would not have died in vain. The family of victim Liam Hockings released a statement last week, saying they are still coming to terms with his death. “He would have turned 53 just a few days ago. Liam was much loved – an intelligent, caring, and unforgettable character," the statement said. The fire broke out shortly after midnight. Photo / Angelia Zhang “His absence has left a huge void in our lives and in the wider Newtown community that knew and cherished him. “While nothing can bring the victims back, we support this step toward accountability.” The tragedy highlighted serious concerns about the safety and conditions of some accommodation, particularly for vulnerable people in the community who were often housed in such buildings, the family said. “Everyone deserves a safe place to live – regardless of their circumstances – and we urge all those who own, operate, or manage buildings to take their responsibilities seriously. “Buildings must be safe, compliant, well maintained. Lives literally depend on it. “We hope that, through this process, Liam’s death will not have been in vain, and that it may lead to real, lasting change that protects others in the future, so that no other family has to endure what we have.” Sun, 08 Jun 2025 23:03:19 Z /news/crime/john-arthur-appeals-conviction-blames-law-for-gasfitting-offences/ /news/crime/john-arthur-appeals-conviction-blames-law-for-gasfitting-offences/ An unregistered gasfitter caught installing hazardous systems and using homemade registration stickers on campervans has claimed it is the law, not his work, that is the problem. John Arthur was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court in 2024 for unlawfully working as a gasfitter and falsely advertising himself as a registered professional. His fraudulent activities were reported after two incidents of work he conducted on motorhomes in Te Awamutu and Whangārei. In September 2022, he installed a gas water heater into a motorhome owned by the McKean family of Whangārei. The heater failed after two days and when the McKeans phoned another technician to check the work, it was found to have serious safety risks. That technician told the McKeans the risk for an explosion was high. In November 2022, Arthur installed gas systems into a motorhome in Te Awamutu after falsely claiming he was licensed to do so. By 2023, he was also found to be falsely offering gasfitting services at a Northland marina, issuing fake inspection sheets and using a falsified registration number. Arthur was convicted and ordered to pay $8000, which included reparation to the victims. He appealed his sentence almost immediately. ‘I felt pressured’ At his appeal hearing in the High Court at Whangārei on Tuesday before Justice Mathew Downs, Arthur claimed he was pressured by his lawyer and the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board (PGDB) to plead guilty. His previous counsel, Jarred Scott, was called in to give evidence at the hearing. He told the court Arthur was advised of his options and that he would receive a “lesser sentence” if he pleaded guilty. Arthur then questioned him about that advice. He said he had spent 40 years in the automotive industry and wanted to know if Scott would have given different advice had he known about Arthur’s experience in gas work. Scott replied he knew that at the time, as was mentioned in a phone conversation. “Nothing’s changed since giving you the advice in the first place,” Scott said. Justice Downs asked Scott whether Arthur had mentioned he was unhappy about pleading guilty. “Effectively, he didn’t like that he was guilty,” Scott responded. Lawyer for the PGDB, Wilson Main, told the court he was aware Arthur was unhappy to plead guilty but his issues were around law changes. “I couldn’t see a viable defence,” Main told the court. John Arthur was doing work on campervans deemed to be dangerous. Photo / 123rf Crown lawyer Sam McMullan said the key features of the case were the fact Arthur was not a registered gasfitter and the work he carried out on the McKean’s campervan was dangerous. “You weren’t registered to do the work though, were you?” Justice Downs then asked. “That’s the whole area I’m approaching with the Minister of Energy, the Honourable Simeon Brown,” Arthur said. “I described everything that had gone on and how to rectify this situation his voice was ‘this is just common sense, get together with the gas board and have a conversation’.” “Listen to my question,” Justice Downs said. “You weren’t registered to do the work though, were you?” “I was registered as an automotive gasfitter, sir,” Arthur responded. “Were you registered under the Plumbers and Gasfitters Act 2006?” “No.” Bogus registration cards Arthur had been told from the outset, in order to defend the charges relating to dangerous work, he needed to get an expert, which he said he could not afford. Arthur said he was trained in 1985 in the automotive gasfitters trade and didn’t like that there was a new board telling people what to do. He gave an oral submission that he had created his own sticker system with identification numbers of the work he had done kept in his cloud storage. “It’s alleged you were displaying bits of cards with registration numbers that were bogus,” Justice Downs said. “All that information is stored on an iCloud,” Arthur said. Justice Downs said he was struggling to see what the iCloud had to do with the numbers. “Why are you showing these people a document with these numbers on it?” Justice Downs asked. Arthur said no one had listened to him through his court case and if he could have a meeting with the gas board, all could be explained. Justice Downs said that he could not organise that as the hearing was related to the charges Arthur was convicted of. Arthur said if the conviction remained, he requested to be resentenced with a discharge without conviction. “I’ve already paid the price,” Arthur said. Justice Downs has reserved his decision for two weeks. Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined 九一星空无限 in 2023. Sun, 08 Jun 2025 03:53:10 Z /news/crime/wrong-way-auckland-motorway-driver-kingi-karanga-turns-to-appeal-court-to-quash-convictions/ /news/crime/wrong-way-auckland-motorway-driver-kingi-karanga-turns-to-appeal-court-to-quash-convictions/ A judge was “literally holding my breath for other motorists” when he saw video footage of Kingi Karanga driving at speed the wrong way down two motorways – bringing “extreme danger to countless people”. Karanga drove against Auckland motorway traffic on three occasions on the same afternoon trying to evade police and their Eagle helicopter as they tracked the stolen vehicle he was in. On the last occasion, he continued to drive at speed on three deflated tyres after they had been punctured by road spikes. Karanga, who is now 32, came to a stop and was arrested only when the ute he was driving hit two cars that had stopped in traffic. He also caused another accident after punching a motorist while trying to hijack his car, prompting the dazed man to drive off and accelerate into a lamppost, leaving him with head injuries. Karanga’s afternoon of mayhem occurred in October 2017 but he was back before the courts last week, after a series of events that have kept him in prison for most of the time since then. After the highway havoc, Karanga pleaded guilty to “endangering transport”, a serious charge that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and which is aimed at people who dangerously target transport facilities, including vehicles, ships, aircraft and navigation equipment. The Crown also laid reckless driving charges as an alternative to endangering transport – a much less serious charge with a maximum penalty of only three months in prison or a fine not exceeding $4500. In the end, however, it was the three counts of “endangering transport” that stuck – one for each instance of driving the wrong way on the motorways. Wrong-way driver covered 3.1km in 1m 45s On one of the legs of his pursuit, Karanga drove 3.1km on the Southwestern Motorway between Neilson St, Onehunga, and Walmsley Rd, Mangere, in one minute and 45 seconds, against the flow of traffic. Court documents state Karanga was driving at more than 100km/h and that the free-flowing traffic was also travelling about that speed, indicating a closing speed of more than 200km/h. A man later identified as Kingi Karanga is pictured driving a stolen red ute the wrong way along an Auckland motorway in October 2017. Numerous other drivers had to take evasive action to avoid collisions. He also drove in the opposite direction on the Southwestern Motorway, also against the flow of traffic, before moving to the Southeastern Motorway. In 2018, the late Judge Rob Ronayne described the driving as “appalling” and extremely dangerous, and said it almost certainly would have caused a death had a high-speed collision occurred. “I … watched the Eagle helicopter footage in my chambers and … I was literally holding my breath for other motorists,” the judge said at Karanga’s sentencing hearing. Dashcam video footage taken by another motorist showed Karanga in a red utility driving between the fast lane and the median barrier towards oncoming vehicles, some of which swerved out of their lane to avoid him. Judge Ronayne jailed Karanga for six years and nine months – a sentence that also took into account other offences, including attempting to unlawfully take a motor vehicle, assault with intent to rob, reckless and dangerous driving, failing to stop, resisting police, and burglary. Burgled houses, urinated on clothes There were five burglaries, unrelated to the driving, in which Karanga ransacked houses, was confronted by a victim on one occasion, and urinated on people’s clothes. Six and a half years after being sentenced, Karanga applied to appeal against the endangering transport convictions after learning about a Court of Appeal ruling in another case. In 2022, the court issued a decision in the other case that said driving the wrong way along a motorway, even at speed, could not be counted as “endangering transport” under Section 270 of the Crimes Act. This hinged on a technicality. The Court of Appeal ruled that to be convicted under that law, an offender would have to interfere with the road itself, a “transport facility” as specified in the Crimes Act. If the “transport facility” was another vehicle, it was not interference, the court ruled, to merely drive towards it. By the time Karanga made his bid to be heard, lawyers for both the Crown and defence had agreed that if the “endangering transport” charges were laid against him after that decision, they would be dismissed. Karanga argued that his driving would be more appropriately counted as reckless driving, with the much lighter penalty. At the heart of his application to the Court of Appeal was the question of his liberty. After being imprisoned by Judge Ronayne, Karanga received further sentences, while imprisoned, from two more judges for offending he committed earlier. These included aggravated robbery and theft, and added another 18 months to Karanga’s sentence. Recalled from parole Karanga was released on parole in March 2023 but was recalled eight months later after being charged with new counts of burglary, breaching release conditions, dangerous driving, and carrying a firearm and ammunition. He remains in prison. Currently, his release date is in January 2026 but he might have more time added when he appears for sentence in the Waitākere District Court this month for the offending while on parole. However, Karanga argued before the Court of Appeal that if the endangering transport charges could be reduced to reckless driving, this might affect the amount of time he has to spend in prison overall. He will not get a chance to put that argument to the test. In a decision released last week, the Court of Appeal ruled against allowing Karanga an extension of time to bring an appeal after so many years had passed. The appeal justices said they might view things differently if they believed substituting the less serious reckless driving charges might make a difference to the overall sentences added to by Judge Ronayne and the other judges for his serial offending. “If convicted of reckless driving rather than endangering transport, we think it is likely that some or all of the judges would have sentenced Mr Karanga differently on the other charges he faced, to reflect the overall criminality of Mr Karanga’s actions,” the Court of Appeal decision said. The court dismissed Karanga’s application for an extension of time to bring an appeal. He is next due before the Parole Board in September this year. Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined 九一星空无限’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer. Sun, 08 Jun 2025 01:57:51 Z /news/crime/man-jailed-woman-avoids-conviction-after-fatal-50th-birthday-shooting-in-stokes-valley/ /news/crime/man-jailed-woman-avoids-conviction-after-fatal-50th-birthday-shooting-in-stokes-valley/ Rawiri Zane Wharerau was a proud whānau man who would do anything he could to help his loved ones. His final act of generosity and love was to host a surprise 50th birthday party for his cousin Robert Huaki snr in the Stokes Valley home Rawiri shared with his older brother, Hemi. Throwing the party meant a lot to Rawiri, his son Kain has remembered. “He was proud and happy to be hosting a celebration at our home. He couldn’t wait for my uncle Rob to show up and see what he had put on for him.” But that milestone celebration turned to chaos and tragedy when, in the early hours of December 16, 2023, Rawiri was fatally shot and Hemi, also shot, was seriously injured. After the shooting, two partygoers, a man and a woman, stood trial on charges of murder and attempted murder, with the woman facing an additional charge of assault with a weapon. The man, who has interim name suppression, was found guilty of manslaughter and discharging a firearm, and the woman, whose identity is permanently suppressed, was found guilty of assault with a weapon. Yesterday, they appeared in the High Court at Wellington before Justice Dale La Hood for sentencing. ‘I’m going to die’ There were 19 victim impact statements, eight of which were read in court, which emphasised the tragedy’s ongoing impact. Hemi’s statement described the close bond he shared with his brother Rawiri – also known as Tubs. He said Rawiri, 39, was his best friend and his ”little big brother,“ and not a day went by that he didn’t think about him. Hemi said his life would never be the same. He hadn’t slept through the night since the shooting, and when he did sleep, he dreamed of Rawiri. Hemi spent weeks on crutches because of the shooting, suffered PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and struggled financially. A bullet remained lodged in his left hip. “I thought to myself, more than once, I’m going to die,” he said. Hemi felt the accused couple had betrayed them. “I hope you pay for what you have done in this life before you go to your next life. I believe in karma and what goes around comes around,” he told them. ‘A situation of your own making’ Outlining the night’s events, Justice La Hood said the couple left the party after an argument between themselves and Huaki snr. Huaki snr had allegedly made a derogatory remark about the couple’s alleged ties to the Mongrel Mob. The man, a member of Mangu Kaha, a gang associated with the Black Power, took exception to the comment. The couple left, but not before the man made threats to return. A short time later, they returned with a gun and fought with partygoers on the street. During the fight, the man knocked Huaki snr unconscious, while the woman hit Hemi in the head several times with the gun. They went back to their house and then returned to the partya final time. The man claimed he returned to the party to find $2000 cash that had earlier fallen out of his bumbag. “The loss of the money, in combination with the disrespect you believed you had been shown, motivated you to go back to the address and assert your authority,” Justice La Hood said. Arriving at the house, the man racked the gun and said “cheeky c****” to those seated under a gazebo. The backyard at the Wharerau house in Stokes Valley where Rawiri Wharerau was killed and his older brother Hemi was injured. As the group advanced on the man, he fired one shot, followed by three more, hitting Hemi in the lower abdomen, groin and leg, the judge said. As he fled down the driveway, he let off another shot at torso height, which struck and fatally wounded Rawiri. Justice La Hood said the man knew the risks that were involved when he fired the gun. “It was a situation of your own making.” Celebration turns to tragedy After reading the victim impact statements, the judge said it was clear Rawiri was a generous, kind, and humble father, brother, uncle, and cousin. The type of person who brought people together, he said. Kain’s statement said nothing had prepared him or his family for the pain and shock of losing his father in such a violent and senseless way. He described his father as the being the heart of their family. “He was a man who lived for others and always put his loved ones first, no matter what challenges he faced.” Kain said what was meant to be a celebration turned into the most devastating day of his life. “It was a day that should have been filled with laughter, whānau and joy. Instead, it became the day he was taken from us.” Wendy Te Paki, a relative of Rawiri’s, said that when she found out he’d been killed her heart stopped. But sadness soon turned to anger towards the defendants. The driveway to the Wharerau house in Stokes Valley. “I cannot understand why. Just why? Why was he killed?” she asked. She said Rawiri had so much to live for. “The reality is, I hate what yous did. Yous had no right, it’s unforgivable, it’s evil, and I want yous to tell the truth. If only yous were honest from the beginning,” she said. Remorseful and rehabilitative In Crown submissions, prosecutor Sally Carter sought a starting point of 12 years’ jail for the man, while his lawyer, Elizabeth Hall, suggested 7.5 years. Carter said the aggravating factors included the use of the firearm, premeditation and that Rawiri and Hemi were unarmed. She also noted they were shot on their property. In mitigation, Hall sought discounts for her client’s attempts to admit to manslaughter a year before his trial. Credit for the months spent on electronically monitored bail, his remorse, rehabilitative prospects and difficult background, which led him to gang life, should also be applied, she submitted. Justice La Hood said that while the man appeared remorseful for shooting Rawiri and deserved credit for trying to admit manslaughter before the trial, remorse for shooting Hemi would have been reflected in a guilty plea – which he did not enter. He also continued to deny aspects of the offending by telling the presentence report writer he’d fired two shots at Hemi and suggested someone else had fired the third. But Justice La Hood said it was clear the man was engaging well in rehabilitation and was committed to reconnecting with his culture. Taking all factors into account, he sentenced the man to eight years’ imprisonment. The judge declined permanent name suppression but made an interim order after Hall indicated she would appeal that decision. Turning to the woman’s sentencing, her lawyer, Letizea Ord, sought a discharge without conviction and permanent name suppression. She was found guilty of striking Hemi during the fight on the street, leaving him with a 2cm cut to his head. Ord said her client regretted injuring Hemi and took responsibility for what had happened. But surrounded by gang members that night, she was extremely frightened and had panicked, Ord explained. Carter submitted that it was reasonably serious offending, and that when the woman was wielding the gun, she hadn’t acted in self-defence. The prosecutor suggested home detention was appropriate. Justice La Hood accepted that while the woman would have been scared, she had also supported her aggressive partner. “Your actions were to support his aggression out of a genuine, but misplaced sense of loyalty to him,” he said. In weighing up the applications, Justice La Hood found that while the offending wasn’t at the serious end of the scale, it also wasn’t minor. But considering the defendant’s young age, lack of previous convictions, rehabilitative prospects, and that her offending was out of loyalty to her partner, he granted both applications. He said it would allow her to “put these tragic events behind you and fulfil your obvious potential”. “I implore you to do that,” the judge said. There were murmurs of discontent from Rawiri and Hemi’s supporters in the public gallery as the sentence was announced. Outside court, Kain said the whānau weren’t happy with the man’s sentence and the prospect that, with good behaviour, he could be released from jail within a few years. Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently, she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice. Fri, 06 Jun 2025 04:44:56 Z