/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. Fri, 22 Aug 2025 17:49:19 Z en /news/crime/idiotic-driving-how-police-caught-a-runaway-driver-wedged-by-a-tree/ /news/crime/idiotic-driving-how-police-caught-a-runaway-driver-wedged-by-a-tree/ A man desperate to escape police managed to flee, even after getting his car wedged by a tree. However, the next day, he phoned police to report his car as stolen, and was arrested soon after. “This is your final warning, with prison to follow, if you go out and do something dumb like this again,” Judge Tony Snell told recidivist offender Zac Gillbanks in Nelson District Court this week. “You are becoming a menace and the community doesn’t need people like you.” The 32-year-old - with a catalogue of 45 convictions since 2011 for violence, dishonesty, drugs and driving offences - was told by Judge Snell that his latest involved “idiotic driving” that ran the risk of harming others. Zac Gillbanks is no stranger to prison and told the judge during sentencing in the Nelson District Court that he didn’t plan to return there. Photo / Tracy Neal One of two parked cars Gillbanks hit while fleeing police was written off, the court heard. Late at night on March 22 this year, Gillbanks was driving down a suburban Nelson street when police started to follow him. According to the summary of facts, he turned off his headlights and sped off, Judge Snell said. Gillbanks turned into a nearby street, and crashed into a parked car which he then bounced off and hit a parked courier van. His car then mounted the pavement curb and became wedged by a tree. Police activated their lights, and as they pulled up behind the wedged car, which Gillbanks was revving heavily, it broke free. He then drove off down the footpath and sped away. As he drove down a nearby street, he was captured on CCTV stopping and running away from the vehicle. The next day, Gillbanks phoned the police and reported the vehicle as stolen. He said he had parked it in his driveway with the keys under the seat, and someone had stolen it. Judge Snell said that in Gillbanks’ desperation to escape the police, he gave a false report in an attempt to “weasel his way out” of what he had done. “It was a separate, silly decision to file a false report.” Then, on April 10, during a search of Gillbanks’ home, police found several cannabis plants and a bong. In court, defence lawyer Wayne Jones was cut short when providing background to the offending. Judge Snell said Gillbanks was serving a sentence for previous similar offending when the latest occurred, and he didn’t want to hear how he might do “this or that” to help his position. “This was silly offending on the back of similar and I don’t want to see it again,” Judge Snell said. Gillbanks, who was no stranger to prison, said he didn’t plan to return there. “This was a close call for you,” Judge Snell said. Gillbanks was sentenced to three months’ home detention for reckless driving, failing to stop for police, making a false statement, plus the cannabis charges. He was ordered to pay $400 reparation to cover the insurance excess on one of the vehicles, and disqualified from driving for a further 12 months, on top of a nine-month disqualification already in place, which meant he was banned from driving for the next 21 months. 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. Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:36:19 Z /news/crime/zain-taikato-fox-rotorua-homicide-case-twelve-charged-with-murder/ /news/crime/zain-taikato-fox-rotorua-homicide-case-twelve-charged-with-murder/ Police have today charged 12 people for the murder of a Rotorua man last month – seven of those charged are from the small Bay of Plenty town of Maketu. Zain Taikato Fox, aged 20, died in Rotorua Hospital of critical injuries on July 28. Officers have conducted numerous inquiries since then, culminating in search warrants being executed in Maketu, Rotorua, and Whanganui this morning. Detective Inspector Craig Rawlinson said it was a big day for the small town of Maketū. “Most of those arrested are from Maketu and these arrests will have a significant positive impact on the township,” he said. “It’s great to have progressed this investigation to this point. Our thoughts are with Zain’s family, and we hope this will help reassure the greater Bay of Plenty community.” Police iwi liaison officers, who have been in Maketu today, will remain to help ensure those affected by the arrests get any support they need. The 12 people are all appearing in Tauranga Youth Court later today. Those arrested included four men from Rotorua aged 23, 25, 29, and 54. The seven men arrested from Maketu were aged 37, 38 and 63, two were aged 22, and two were aged 40. A male youth was arrested in Whanganui and will appear in the Tauranga Youth Court via audio-visual link. Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues. Thu, 21 Aug 2025 03:44:48 Z /news/crime/newmarket-text-scammer-caught-trying-to-spend-6000-chinese-national-to-appear-in-court/ /news/crime/newmarket-text-scammer-caught-trying-to-spend-6000-chinese-national-to-appear-in-court/ An alleged text scammer attempting to splash out on luxury goods worth $6000 is facing fraud charges after an unsuccessful designer shopping spree. Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton said police were called to Auckland’s Newmarket on August 10 after a woman tried to make a hefty purchase during a high-end shopping trip. The woman involved is allegedly part of a text scam ring that has recently made a resurgence. “A woman had tried unsuccessfully using multiple phones to make a payWave purchase in excess of $6000. “Police were called after the woman then left the shop and attempted to enter another high-end retailer. “Police were contacted by security at the time and the woman was arrested,” Bolton said. An alleged text scammer attempting to splash out on luxury goods worth $6000 is facing several fraud charges. Photo / File “It will be alleged that unsuspecting Kiwis’ credit card details were used by ghost tapping with several smart phones,” Bolton said. A Chinese national, 25, appeared in the Auckland District Court and was remanded in custody until her next appearance on August 25. Bolton said police have laid seven charges of obtaining by deception, and further charges are likely. Police urge extreme caution Police are urging extreme caution after reports of alarming messages circulating in New Zealand. Police said many have reported receiving reminders from “NZ Police” or “NZTA” reminding them to pay their unpaid fines or tolls. “I know these texts can catch some people off guard and leaving you feeling flustered,” Bolton said. “Pause, and think, ‘do I know where this message is coming from?’ “It’s almost certainly scammers trying to steal your credit card or banking details.” Police said several red flags will suggest a scam, including an unknown international number, an unusual weblink and often poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:25:13 Z /news/crime/auckland-teacher-myah-adams-loses-suppression-bid-after-student-sex-acts-conviction/ /news/crime/auckland-teacher-myah-adams-loses-suppression-bid-after-student-sex-acts-conviction/ A former Auckland teacher who was ordered to serve a term of imprisonment after admitting to performing sex acts on a 15-year-old student has had her sentence reduced to home detention on appeal.  But the same High Court justice said permanent suppression would be a step too far for Myah Leanie Adams, who can now be identified for the first time.  “The public interest in knowing the identity of the teacher who committed the offending considerably outweighs the impacts of publication on Ms Adams,” Justice Gerard van Bohemen wrote in a newly released 28-page decision.  “That public interest is not diminished by Ms Adams leaving the teaching profession, which is a likely outcome, even if Ms Adams had not taken that decision herself.”  Court documents state the now-27-year-old began exchanging messages with the boy via Snapchat in July 2023, about one month after she started at an Auckland school.  “From that point forward, Ms Adams groomed [him],” the agreed summary of facts for the case state. “Ms Adams repeatedly flirted with [the student], commenting on his smile and appearance, buying him vapes and allowing him to use her credit card.”  Myah Adams leaves North Shore District Court in August 2024. Photo / Michael Craig  In September that year, she drove the student to the car park at Parakai Pools, where she performed sex acts on him. She then dropped him off at his home.  “After this incident, Ms Adams asked [the student] to keep the incident ‘on the lowdown’,” court documents state. “She then began sending nude photographs of her body to him on Snapchat.”  The photos were accompanied by sexually explicit messages.  Two and a half weeks after the first incident, the teacher took the student and a friend of his to the movies, giving the victim two cans of alcohol. She behaved inappropriately during the movie, then dropped off the boy’s friend and took the victim again to the Parakai Pools car park, where more sexual acts occurred.  Both the victim and his mother were strongly opposed to Adams receiving permanent name suppression.  “The complainant refers to his emotional and mental health having been severely impacted,” Auckland District Court Judge Brooke Gibson said at her sentencing in May, noting that the victim also reported having lost interest in school since the incidents.  Defence lawyer Emma Priest had pointed out during the sentencing that on the last of the two incidents, the boy was five days short of his 16th birthday.  Defence lawyer Emma Priest. Photo / Supplied  The woman pleaded guilty to a representative charge of sexual conduct with a young person under 16, which is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Had the boy been 16, she could not have been charged under that law.  During an appeal hearing earlier this month, Priest tried to persuade Justice van Bohemen that Judge Gibson’s sentence of two years and one month had been manifestly excessive.  Had the sentence been two years or less, the judge could have considered an alternate non-custodial sentence. But he was not willing to do that, he said, because of the deterrence needed for such an abuse of trust by a teacher. He also noted that the Court of Appeal had indicated in previous cases that imprisonment had to be the norm for such offending.  Priest suggested numerous ways in which the court could have allowed a slightly higher discount to allow the sentence to pass the two-year threshold.  But the argument that appeared to most resonate with the High Court justice was that the 5% reduction allowed for the impact imprisonment would have on Adams’ young child was inadequate. She sought a discount of 10 to 15%.  Former teacher Myah Adams appears in Auckland District Court for sentencing in May 2025 after admitting to inappropriate sexual behaviour with a student. Photo / Alex Burton  Crown prosecutor Pearl Philpott acknowledged that Judge Gibson’s end sentence was “stern” but argued it didn’t reach the level of manifestly excessive.  Justice van Bohemen disagreed.  “I consider the starting point adopted by the Judge was too high, although not markedly; the discount for the impact of imprisonment on Ms Adams’ young daughter was too low; and the overall sentence was manifestly excessive,” he wrote.  He allowed a 10% discount for the impact on Adams’ child.  “Although the District Court Judge observed that the Court of Appeal had indicated that imprisonment had to be the norm for this type of offending, that is not an inflexible rule,” he said, allowing the sentence to then be converted to 10 months’ home detention.  He declined Priest’s request for a sentence of community detention, which would have less rigorous restrictions than home detention.  “Such a sentence would not adequately reflect the gravity of Ms Adams’ offending or respond sufficiently to the sentencing purposes of denunciation and deterrence and the need to hold Ms Adams to account,” he wrote.  The High Court justice did, however, allow two conditions of her home detention to be deleted: that she be barred from unsupervised contact with males between the ages of 10 and 16 and have no access to social media.  “Given the particular circumstances in which this offending occurred, Ms Adams’ obvious remorse and the assessment she is of low risk of re-offending, as well as the small community in which she is living, I consider the non-contact condition to be unnecessary and likely to risk further ostracism and may delay Ms Adams’ rehabilitation and reintegration into the community,” he explained.  He also rescinded her sex offender registration.  “I am satisfied Ms Adams does not pose a risk to the victim or other children so does not meet the threshold,” the judge said.  Justice van Bohemen also referred to a report filed prior to Adams’ May sentencing, which opined that incarceration was “unlikely to yield a positive rehabilitative outcome”. She has no prior criminal history and has accepted responsibility, the report noted.  “It also recorded that Ms Adams expressed significant remorse and shame in relation to her offending, demonstrated concern for the victim, and appeared to possess a sound level of insight into her behaviour,” Justice van Bohemen said.  “The assessor’s view was that Ms Adams was likely to respond differently and make more appropriate choices if confronted by a similar situation in the future.”  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, 20 Aug 2025 20:07:52 Z /news/crime/why-was-a-nz-soldier-guilty-of-attempted-espionage-trying-to-defect-to-foreign-country/ /news/crime/why-was-a-nz-soldier-guilty-of-attempted-espionage-trying-to-defect-to-foreign-country/ A soldier with links to two white supremacist groups says he became desperate in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings after becoming the focus of a police investigation. The man, whose name is suppressed, was pulled in for questioning several times by police and allegedly asked about what targets the groups had and what their endgame was. “The investigators were incredibly aggressive towards me, often getting in my face and shouting. To me, their approach was actually violent,” the soldier said in an affidavit presented at a court martial hearing this week. “There was no ‘end game’, ‘targets’, or anything like that. When I said that, I was obviously not believed.” The soldier said he was terrified he had become a target of his own country and all he wanted was to be able to leave New Zealand and get to another country where he thought would be safe. This week's court martial was five years in the making after the soldier was first arrested in 2019. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson Becoming increasingly desperate, the soldier made contact with a third party, indicating that he wanted to defect. “That was my only motivation. I was not thinking about anything else,” he said. That’s when the New Zealand Government stepped in. An undercover officer, pretending to be a foreign agent, made contact with the soldier and they met on multiple occasions. The solider then provided documents, including maps and aerial photographs of various NZDF bases around the country, as well as passcodes, login details to its IT system, telephone directories and handwritten assessments of the vulnerabilities of the Linton Military Camp where he was stationed. He also offered to install a covert device at Army headquarters and supplied the undercover officer with his own NZDF identification card and IT login details. “As people [the undercover officer] contacted me, that was still my motivation. As their demands grew greater and greater, I felt that I was in further and further above my head.” ‘Espionage is one thing; this is espionage by a serving soldier’ The soldier pleaded guilty to attempted espionage this week at the start of the court martial hearing. Crown prosecutor Grant Burston said the man had tried to “ingratiate himself in the eyes of the foreign country concerned”. “He not only obtained the information, but he also provided it to an undercover officer.” Burston said the soldier had placed his own self-interests above those of the NZDF and of his country. Parts of this week's court martial were heard behind closed doors. Photo / Jeremy Wilkinson While he conceded no actual harm resulted from the soldier’s actions, there could have been serious repercussions if the information had ended up in the hands of a foreign country as intended. “He believed he was interacting with a foreign agent,” Burston said. While the soldier’s lawyers claimed the information was not of a high value, Burston disagreed and said it had the potential to cause real harm. Burston said the punishment should be more severe because the man was a serving soldier at the time. “Espionage is one thing; this is espionage by a serving soldier,” Burston said. “[His] offending is the antithesis of his oath and the trust placed in him.” ‘The actions of this individual were deplorable’ It was the violation of his oath that Chief of Army Major General Rose King focused on in a statement after the soldier was sentenced to two years in military detention and dismissal from the armed forces on Wednesday afternoon. “The offending strikes at the core of the oath of allegiance all members of the NZDF take when joining the Armed Forces, which commits our personnel to faithfully and loyally serve in the defence of New Zealand,” Major General King said. “In this case, the offender sought to disclose official, including classified information, to a foreign entity. The soldier pleaded guilty to charges of attempted espionage by attempting to give military information to what he thought was a foreign agent. Pool Photo / Adele Rycroft, Manawatu Standard “The actions of this individual were deplorable.” Major General King said the soldier’s actions were incredibly poorly judged and brought risk to all of those he served alongside, as well as the wider New Zealand public. “Courage, commitment, comradeship and integrity are not just words or lip service – they are the foundation on which we serve. We don’t just say or read these words, we live and honour them,” she said. ‘Stuff got real very quickly’ However, the soldier’s lawyer, Steve Winter, said his client had simply gotten “out of his depth” when police focused on him and other members of the Dominion Movement and Action Zealandia after the mosque shootings. “Stuff had got real very quickly for him,” he said, noting that it “might sound like something out of a movie”. “He was lost, in his own words, he was desperate.” Winter said it was important for the court to consider that no information was actually passed on to a foreign country, and said an undercover officer pressed him to provide it. Winter said many of the items handed over to the undercover officer were phone books, which were widely distributed within the NZDF and of “limited intelligence value”. While none of the material was classified higher than restricted, and much of it had no classification at all, the court martial panel that sentenced the soldier found that it still could have caused harm if it landed in the wrong hands. Chief Judge of the Court Martial of New Zealand, Kevin Riordan, said the panel had taken into account the soldier’s desperation in sentencing him, but didn’t consider that attempting to pass on the information he did was justified. “As a response, it seems so truly disproportionate to the situation you found yourself in that it defies belief,” Judge Riordan said. “The court wonders how you could have been so naive.” The soldier lost a bid for permanent name suppression but his lawyer appealed that, meaning his interim name suppression continues for now. Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for 九一星空无限 since 2022. Wed, 20 Aug 2025 08:35:24 Z /news/crime/dogs-that-fatally-mauled-neville-thomson-also-allegedly-turned-on-owner-abel-wira/ /news/crime/dogs-that-fatally-mauled-neville-thomson-also-allegedly-turned-on-owner-abel-wira/ A pack of dogs that mauled a man to death had a reputation for lunging at visitors, attacking livestock and even allegedly turned on their owner – resulting in him needing a trip to the emergency department. Despite their history, Abel Wira kept at least 21 dogs confined to a caravan on Neville Thomson’s property – until the morning they allegedly broke free and fatally mauled the man he called his brother. Now the 61-year-old is on trial in the High Court at Whangārei on charges of manslaughter and owning a dog that caused injury or death. On day two of the trial the jury heard from Wira’s friend Daniel Knopp, who said he’d come across the pack at least six times. “They were vicious-looking dogs. “[I] had to wind the window up so they didn’t jump in the window ‘cause they were bailing up the truck.” Knopp said the dogs were often in the caravan fighting with each other and he noticed the door was only secured by a log. “It wasn’t that secure, I don’t think it was, just leaning up against it, dogs could probably push it open,” Knopp said. Knopp also recalled a story Wira had allegedly told of his own dangerous encounter with the dogs. “One time he told me his own dogs attacked him. He was saying it was on the beach and he had to go in the water to try and drown them to get them off him.” The jury heard on Monday that Wira had been staying at Thomson’s Puketawa Rd property in Panguru in a caravan with his dogs. At least six of the dogs were adults and the rest were at varying stages of puppy life. On August 4, 2022, Wira went out to retrieve a car he had crashed weeks beforehand and then went to Broadwood to pick up items, including dog food. Thomson was home alone and on the phone to his partner when the pack of dogs, which were allegedly barricaded in the caravan, got out and mauled him to death. Wira arrived home to discover Thomson’s body, which he dragged into the house and covered with a blanket before sending a friend a Facebook message. “I need help bro please my dogs have attacked my bro and hes gone please bro,” he said. He then locked the dogs in a truck, closed the gate and drove Thomson’s truck an hour away to Ahipara, where he was able to wave down police officers. Neville Thomson lived in the remote area of Panguru overlooking the Hokianga harbour. Emergency services arrived on the scene more than three hours after the incident and pronounced Thomson dead. Thomson’s partner Shirley Orchard gave evidence about their 17-year relationship, which was mostly long-distance. Orchard lived in Auckland and would speak to Thomson on the phone every morning when he had his morning coffee. She said on that morning, about 10am, he was chatting about his garden and she could hear that he was outside. ‘Get the f*** out’ With her knowledge of the property, she believes Thomson was walking along the gravel towards the back of the house and the dogs, which were locked in the caravan, caught sight of him. “They started off barking, as soon as he walked into sight of the caravan, they thought he was a stranger because he had shaved off his beard,” Orchard said in evidence. “The barking all started up and got louder and that was when I heard him shout out ‘get out, get the f*** out’ then the noise escalated from the dogs and I never heard not another sound out of him.” Connor Taylor (left) and Arthur Fairley (right) are the defence lawyers for Abel Wira. Photo / 九一星空无限 During cross-examination, defence lawyer Connor Taylor suggested to Orchard that Thomson himself may have released the dogs from the caravan. “I’m not a stupid woman, as soon as he walked into sight of those dogs they busted out of the caravan and attacked him,” Orchard responded. “You’re just guessing, aren’t you?” Connor questioned. “The evidence is he was attacked by dogs, whether he was by the fish pond or I’m making it all up the fact was, he was out in the garden and he was hurt by dogs,” Orchard said. Orchard then gave evidence she spent the next hour trying to contact Thomson and asked a neighbour, Lucy Burkhardt, to check on his house. When Burkhardt texted her saying the gate was closed, Thomson felt a slight relief as it was his normal habit to close the gate if he had left the property. “That’s a good sign, he’s out and not lying in a pool of blood maybe he’s in Rawene getting stitched up,” she texted back to Burkhardt. Neville Thomson was known as an animal lover who had two dogs of his own. Photo / Supplied Orchard assumed Thomson was okay but made a call to 111 as a safety check. The call was played to the jury. “The dogs are going off for quite a while and I couldn’t hear him then the dogs have settled down. “Those dogs have actually attacked me and I know they haven’t been fed for two days. I thought ‘my God have they attacked him?’ I’ve got no way of knowing,” Orchard told the operator. When asked what kind of dogs they were, Orchard responded “mongrels”. Burkhart gave evidence the dogs had mauled her pig’s ears on one occasion. The trial continues before Justice Andrew Becroft. 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. Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:43:49 Z /news/crime/greymouth-man-ricky-lee-maynard-strangled-woman-in-bed-after-accusing-her-of-messaging-other-men/ /news/crime/greymouth-man-ricky-lee-maynard-strangled-woman-in-bed-after-accusing-her-of-messaging-other-men/ A man who strangled a woman as she lay in bed said he got stoned at a mate’s place before it happened. They were together at her house in Nelson when, in the early hours of the morning, Ricky-Lee Maynard woke the victim and accused her of messaging other men. The police summary of facts said they began to argue loudly. Maynard became angry and jumped on the woman who was still lying in bed. He put both hands around her neck and started to squeeze so that she struggled to breathe. After some time she managed to kick him off, police said. It formed the lead charge of strangulation for which he was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today. Ricky-Lee Maynard blew kisses at the media during sentencing in the Nelson District Court for what were described as serious violence charges including strangling his partner as she lay in bed. Photo / Tracy Neal Judge Garry Barkle said before Maynard arrived at the woman’s home he had got stoned at a mate’s place. He had also disclosed before sentencing that he had used cannabis daily from a young age, but that he had recently “desisted”. The strangulation charge carried a maximum seven-year prison sentence, but Maynard, who had already served time in custody on remand, and further time on electronic bail, will now serve 10 months’ home detention at a Greymouth address for this and other associated violence charges. The 28-year-old also admitted a representative charge of assault with intent to injure, and speaking threateningly after the events in the woman’s home in February. Police said that after the woman had kicked Maynard off her, he punched her in the body and head around 10 times. The woman managed to get past him and ran towards the kitchen and out the back door. He followed her and said, “Go on tell the neighbours that I bash you.” She tried to get away from him and headed back towards the bedroom. Maynard then picked up a baseball bat and threatened to bash her with it but she was able to grab it and run from the house. She hit Maynard’s car with the bat, breaking it in half before throwing it away. Maynard followed, yelling at her, before catching up and punching her twice more. He then pushed her so hard she fell backwards, hitting her head on a dryer, and then she fell on the ground and blacked out. Police said she received grazing to her back and legs, a cut to the back of her head, multiple bruises, and a concussion. She also complained of a sore neck. After he was arrested, Maynard told the police that he pushed the victim because she hit his car with a baseball bat. Judge Barkle said that while no victim impact statement had been provided, there was no doubt considerable psychological harm had been caused by what happened. He said strangulation was a serious offence in the spectrum of domestic violence, and, while in this case it was not prolonged, the victim was particularly vulnerable in that she was in bed, and that it was only her actions that ended the assault. The violence then continued beyond the strangulation, in the victim’s home, Judge Barkle said. “Repeatedly, the courts have reminded offenders that a home is where anyone should feel safe.” Judge Barkle said in setting a starting point of two years and four months in prison, Maynard’s attack to the woman’s head also made it more serious. He also had previous convictions from some time ago, Judge Barkle said in considering aggravating factors. When considering mitigating features, Maynard, who had initially denied the charges, eventually pleaded guilty after amendments to the scope of the offending, Judge Barkle said. Maynard was given a 20% credit for his guilty pleas, plus a further 5% for his remorse, which brought the sentence down to a short term of imprisonment. Judge Barkle said because Maynard had already spent some time in custody, a 10-month sentence of home detention with certain conditions, was appropriate. 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. 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. Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:32:58 Z /news/crime/comancheros-retribution-elijah-meyer-patrick-langi-targeted-departing-gang-member-s-family/ /news/crime/comancheros-retribution-elijah-meyer-patrick-langi-targeted-departing-gang-member-s-family/ When an imprisoned high-profile Comancheros member wanted out of the gang life but refused to pay a hefty fine for doing so, a plan was set in motion to punish him by terrorising his family. Now the patched member and Comancheros nominee who helped execute the plan - including shooting into a room with children and opening fire at an adult who was running away, grazing him - are in prison as well. “This offending is of grave public concern,” Crown prosecutor Ben Kirkpatrick told Justice Ian Gault today as West Harbour resident Patrick Leonardo Langi, 26, and Papatoetoe resident Elijah Meyer, 23, appeared in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing. While it may be unfortunately common to see violence between opposing gangs, “targeted retribution” focusing on the family of a departing member made the case unusual, he said. The back-to-back shootings have left the victims still stressed two years later to live in their own homes, the court was told. Langi, who became a patched member after his deportation from Australia, and Meyer, who was partially raised in Australia but voluntarily left, were initially charged with attempted murder. They were set to go to trial earlier this year but it was cancelled after both agreed to instead plead guilty to lesser charges of discharging a weapon with reckless disregard and arson. Prison search, surveillance Court documents state Langi and Meyer carried out the shootings in August 2023 after high-ranking patched member Khalid Slaimankhel said he wanted out. Slaimankhel is serving a six-year sentence in Whanganui prison for his part in a Comanchero’s methamphetamine distribution scheme. Khalid Naser Slaimankhel appears in the High Court at Auckland on an unrelated charge in 2015. Photo / Jason Oxenham On August 10, 2023 – just over two weeks before the shootings – the Department of Corrections searched Unit 8 of Rimutaka Prison, where gang president Pasilika Naufahu and fellow patched member Jalal Safi were housed. Officers seized notebooks from Safi’s cell, as well as a mobile phone he was using when the search began. Authorities would later realise the phone had been used to search Google Maps for the same streets where the shootings would later occur. The notebooks also contained addresses on those streets, with notations such as “mum” and “brother older”. Jailed Comancheros president Pasilika Naufahu was investigated but not charged with participating in the retribution plan. Photo / Brett Phibbs Neither of the imprisoned gang members were charged. On August 15, 10 days before the shootings, Langi used his phone to screenshot maps of the same addresses. That same day, co-defendant Meyer was “directed by unknown parties to conduct surveillance” on the addresses. He took notes and photos that were later recovered from his phone. Timeline of violence Langi and Meyer showed up at the first property, in Epsom, about 7pm on August 25, 2023. Meyer fired at least three shots while another unidentified man was armed but his gun appears to have jammed, documents state. “One of the fired projectiles went through the wooden window frame of the master bedroom at the front of the house, causing the interior of the window frame to chip off,” court documents state. “At the time of the shooting there were eight occupants within the house, including three young children playing in the master bedroom that was shot at.” Comancheros prospect Elijah Meyer appears in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig Thirteen minutes later, after fleeing the scene, the stolen car used by the duo was torched. Meyer and Langi arrived at the next home, in Hillsborough, at 7.31pm in a second stolen vehicle. Meyer got out of the vehicle and began knocking on the door aggressively. Langi did not go up to the door with him, but he was charged with the same offence for having aided or encouraged the crime. Those inside the home had been eating upstairs, and a man yelled that he was coming down. Meyer opened fire as the man opened the door, with the bullets lodging in the door as the victim attempted to shut it. “Mr Meyer placed his foot in the door to attempt to keep it open but [the victim] managed to push the door closed, and locked it, before attempting to run up the stairs away from the defendant,” police noted in the summaries of facts for both men. Meyer then walked to the front entrance window and aimed three more shots at the fleeing man – one of them grazing him in the back. Less than 15 minutes later, the second stolen vehicle was set alight at nearby Nash Rd Reserve. Patched Comancheros member Patrick Langi appears in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig Police caught up to Meyer and Langi at 8.07pm that day after spotting them in a third stolen vehicle near the reserve. Gunshot residue was found in the vehicle and on both men’s clothing, authorities said. “The defendant Langi declined to comment to most questions, [but] when confronted with the gunshot residue evidence he stated that it was ‘bullshit’ and police must have made that up,” court documents state. Victim impact statements were provided to the court but Slaimankhel’s family declined to read them aloud. They had come to New Zealand from Afghanistan seeking a “safer foundation” but now their children are traumatised and suffer nightmares, the court was told. Raised in Australia Langi and Meyer both faced up to 14 years’ imprisonment today for arson and up to seven years for discharging a firearm with reckless disregard. Defence lawyers disagreed the plot was as uncommon as the prosecution had suggested. Family homes are unfortunately shot at often in gang culture, said Jasper Rhodes, who represented Langi. Defence lawyer Jasper Rhodes. Photo / Michael Craig He noted that Langi was sentenced to prison at age 18 for an aggravated assault, after which he was deported to New Zealand without support despite having lived in Australia since he was 5. The defendant had developed cocaine, MDMA and cannabis habits as a young teen and began using methamphetamine and heroin on a near-daily basis while in prison, he told authorities. But since his arrest, he had engaged in rehabilitation and had written a letter of apology, Rhodes said. “He’s insightful as to how he got here,” he said of his client. Justin Harder noted that Meyer, his client, was only 21 at the time of the offending and as a prospect was quite low in the Comancheros hierarchy. Defence lawyer Justin Harder. Photo / Michael Craig “He’s not the architect,” he said of the retribution plot, describing a “power imbalance” in which his role was to follow orders. Meyer was born in Australia but was sent to New Zealand by his mother as a young teen in hopes of getting him away from anti-social influences. His father had died when he was 11 and his major male influences after that were his gang-connected older brothers, the lawyer said. The change of scenery didn’t appear to work, and Meyer picked up a Youth Court notation for firearms offending. “The reality was it didn’t matter what side of the Tasman he was on - he wasn’t able to escape that,” Harder said. Meyer returned to Australia, then made a final return to New Zealand about 18 months before the shootings. Justice Ian Gault presides over a hearing in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig The judge ordered Meyer to serve a sentence of four years and four months’ imprisonment. Langi was sentenced to four years and seven months’ imprisonment. He allowed some discounts for guilty pleas, background and remorse but said the reductions had to be weighed against their continued involvement in the gang. Good family, tragic past Slaimankhel, formerly a Dunedin bodybuilder, was also found guilty in 2015 of kidnapping a fellow bodybuilder and perverting the course of justice. He came from a good family, his lawyer said at his 2022 Auckland District Court sentencing on drug trafficking charges. Lawyer Mark Ryan said at the time his client turned to drugs and gangs after his father was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. The family of jailed former Comancheros member Khalid Naser Slaimankhel was targeted for retribution. Photo / Supplied Dr Hashem Slaimankhel had been a physician in Afghanistan and Pakistan before arriving in New Zealand in 1998 and taking on a role as a refugee health worker. His advocacy made enough of an impact in New Zealand that police publicly praised the “dedicated and deeply respected community leader” after his death in January 2018. The elder Slaimankhel was among the nearly 100 people killed when an ambulance with a bomb inside detonated at a police checkpoint in Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the massacre. At his 2022 sentencing, the younger Slaimankhel told Judge Evangelos Thomas he wanted to leave gang life behind him. Prosecutors voiced some scepticism but acknowledged the goal was a worthy one if genuine. “It’s going to take an awful amount of work to make sure that is carried through,” Crown prosecutor Jacob Barry said. The judge agreed, turning to Slaimankhel’s family and supporters, who filled the courtroom gallery, after the defendant was led away to begin serving his sentence. He encouraged them to continue supporting him. “If people aren’t working hard around him, he’s going to be straight into that [gang] environment,” the judge said. “This work is really only beginning now.” 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, 19 Aug 2025 01:19:21 Z /news/crime/domestic-violence-murder-trial-west-auckland-man-denies-beating-partner-to-death/ /news/crime/domestic-violence-murder-trial-west-auckland-man-denies-beating-partner-to-death/ Warning: This story refers to domestic violence When police found a woman dead in a West Auckland home, bleeding from the mouth but with no other apparent injuries, they didn’t yet declare it a crime scene. The woman had been highly intoxicated, had recently suffered increasingly severe health issues due to not taking her epilepsy medication and appeared suicidal, the man who called 111 on June 9 last year informed them. But the situation quickly changed the next day when a preliminary exam of the woman’s body revealed a brain bleed, prosecutor Ruby van Boheemen told jurors in the High Court at Auckland today as the man’s murder trial began. Neither the defendant nor the woman who died can yet be identified pending a name suppression hearing tentatively set for tomorrow. “The night [she] died was not an isolated incident of violence,” van Boheemen told the 11 man, one woman jury during a lengthy opening address today. “It was the result of what had been happening for a long time. “[The woman] was in a toxic and volatile relationship with [the defendant].” The completed post-mortem examination revealed at least 20 injuries on the woman, including what appeared to be defensive wounds to her forearms, the prosecutor said. Six were to different areas of the woman’s head, the pathologist found. But it remains a circumstantial case in which authorities cannot exclude the woman dying from a fall during an epileptic seizure, the defence countered. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to murder, as well as charges of strangulation and violating a protection order stemming from an alleged incident two months before the woman’s death. Emergency responders arrived at the small cabin - made from a converted shipping container - just before 1am on June 9, 2024 after the defendant called 111 stating he awoke to find the woman cold and lifeless in his lounge. Police and forensic staff at the West Auckland address where a woman died in June 2024. Photo / Alex Burton But his story quickly evolved, prosecutors said. He allegedly told one officer that he didn’t check on her when she came in hours earlier because he was trying to sleep and he could tell she was drunk, but he then told another officer that they had been in an argument. “I know it looks bad,” he is alleged to have said as police took him to the station later that morning for a voluntary interview. Prosecutors described a “complex” on-and-off relationship in which he helped care for her after her epilepsy diagnosis a decade earlier. But it was also marred by repeated reports of violence - and seemingly just as many retractions from the woman - which prosecutors described as signs of a woman trapped in an abusive relationship. Both were prone to jealously and the woman knew how to “push his buttons”, prosecutors said. Jurors are expected to hear from health professionals, and others who reported outcries from the woman, as well as what was described as private notes the woman wrote to herself alluding to domestic violence. “[She] told people she was scared [the defendant] was going to kill her,” van Boheemen said. Jurors are expected to hear from a witness who contacted police in June 2019 to report seeing the defendant punch the woman in the mouth during a loud argument inside their car. Police went to the woman’s house but no charges were filed after she denied having been hit. Two months later, both the defendant and the woman showed up at a hospital and the defendant said he needed help for anger issues. The woman showed up on her own four hours later and elaborated, saying that he had previously tried to strangle her, threatened to kill her and had fractured multiple bones of hers, witnesses are expected to say. But when a hospital employee called police a few days later, she recanted. Police and forensic staff at the address in West Auckland where a man says he awoke to find a lifeless woman. The man is now on trial for murder. Photo / Alex Burton The following year, the defendant pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman in an unrelated incident in which he kicked her legs and picked her up by the hair before throwing her to the ground. On the night of her death, the woman had arrived at the defendant’s home about 9pm and it appears an argument started after the defendant accused her of infidelity, prosecutors said. He “saw red”, beating her to death before going into the adjoining bedroom and spending the next hour or so going through her phone looking for evidence to back up his suspicion, van Boheemen told jurors. “This is not a case about a woman who died from epilepsy,” she said. “This is not a case about a woman who fell over. “This is a case about domestic violence. This is a case about a woman who was beaten to death by her partner.” Defence lawyer Ian Brookie gave a much shorter opening statement, as is generally required in jury trials. He described the Crown opening as “bold” but likely unable to hold up under the jury’s scrutiny over the next three to four weeks. If there were discrepancies regarding what his client told police, it would have been because adrenaline was coursing through his body and he was in shock, he said. Defence lawyer Ian Brookie. “He was highly upset and still panicking at the aggressive suggestion,” he said of his client’s follow-up police interview days later, when the results of the post-mortem exam were explained to him. “He did not know how she died and he still doesn’t.” While it was known the woman died of a head injury and the relationship between the two was on the rocks, that doesn’t amount to murder, he said. He pointed out that the woman was so intoxicated that it was “at the lower part of the range of enough to kill you”. That, when added to her increasingly frequent seizures, adds to the likelihood she died from a fatal fall, he said. While his client admits he punched the woman in 2020, that’s not an automatic pass to assume he committed an act magnitudes worse on the night of her death, Brookie added. “It says little about what happened that night,” he said. The trial is set to continue tomorrow morning before Justice Simon Mount and the jury. 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. 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. Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:43:59 Z /news/crime/abel-wira-on-trial-for-manslaughter-after-dogs-kill-landlord-neville-thomson/ /news/crime/abel-wira-on-trial-for-manslaughter-after-dogs-kill-landlord-neville-thomson/ A concerned woman listened over the phone as her partner shouted at a pack of growling dogs – then the line went silent. Shirley Orchard then sent Neville Thomson a message, desperate to know what was happening. “I hear a pack of mutts going off and you disappear, you have left me here wondering if you have been mauled, let me guess. Are you out of it just forgot me or bleeding to death?” she said in her text message. She never got a reply. Three hours later, it was confirmed Thomson had been mauled to death by 23 dogs belonging to his boarder. Abel Wira, 61, is now on trial at the High Court at Whangārei on charges of manslaughter and owning a dog that caused injury or death to the man he called a brother. Crown lawyer Danica Soich opened the case to the jury today, outlining the details of what happened at Thomson’s property in Panguru on August 4, 2022. The court heard on Monday that Wira had been living in a caravan at Thomson’s 2ha property with his dogs. Soich said Wira was known to often lock his dogs in a truck or barricade them in his caravan with a block of wood. A few weeks earlier, Wira had crashed his vehicle into a paddock. On the day Thomson died he organised for a neighbour to help pull the vehicle out. Wira left the property, leaving Thomson at home to look after his dogs. The court heard the dogs had a history of aggression, rushing at neighbours, attacking local cattle and even Wira had previously needed medical attention for dog bites. About 9.56am, Thomson was on the phone with his partner and told her the dogs had not been fed in two days. He said he had offered Wira his truck to go and get dog food but this had been declined. Over the phone, Orchard heard dogs growling and barking and Thomson saying “get out of here you f***ing dogs”. Thomson reportedly moved away from the phone and for the next 10 minutes she listened to growling, barking, shouting and then silence. “Mr Thomson does not come back to the call,” Soich told the jury. Orchard made several attempts to call back and texted her partner, confused by what had just happened. Abel Wira's trial at the High Court at Whangārei is expected to last two weeks. Photo / 九一星空无限 Meanwhile, Wira had travelled to Broadwood to pick up dog biscuits and other items and returned to the Panguru property around 11am. At 11.30am, the Crown said he sent a private Facebook message to his friend. “I need help bro please my dogs have attacked my bro and he’s gone please bro.” The court heard Wira was sighted leaving Panguru about 1pm and not long after he waved down police in Ahipara. “Wira told police Neville Thomson was dead and had been eaten by dogs,” Soich told jurors. “He explained it had been two hours since he found Mr Thomson and he was driving to Kaitāia police station as he did not have a phone.” Throughout this time, Orchard was texting neighbours to check on Thomson and requested a police welfare check at 1.33pm. Neville Thomson died from blood loss from several dog bites. Photo / Supplied “Sure enough, when they arrived they saw the defendant’s dogs locked in a [Toyota] Hilux. The dogs were behaving aggressively and trying to get out,” Soich said. “There were muddy drag marks leading from the front porch to the kitchen. “They found his body lying in the kitchen wrapped up in a blanket. Neville Thomson showed no signs of life.” The dogs had blood on their fur and were reportedly locked in a truck, barking, attacking each other and almost breaking windows. Thomson died at the scene from blood loss. Six adults and 17 puppies were found at the property. Two had to be shot on site because of their aggressive behaviour. When Wira was interviewed he said it was normal practice to lock his dogs in a caravan using a white shoelace and a log of wood across the door. It is the Crown’s case that regardless of whether Wira was present or not, his departure from providing a reasonable standard of care for the dogs led to Thomson’s death. “Mr Wira’s dogs were clearly dangerous,” Soich said. “You’ll be asked to bring your knowledge of human and canine behaviour. For everything he knew about these dogs – a log placed against a caravan door, was a major failure.” Defence lawyer Connor Taylor acknowledged Thomson’s death was horrific, but a terrible accident. “Can it be proven that it was culpable homicide?” Taylor put to the jury. “It’s not the situation you would often read about. “What happened that day, how they got out, or why they got out, we will never know. “What we do know is this. It was tragic, it was unforeseeable but it does not make Mr Wira guilty of his murder.” The trial is expected to last two weeks before Justice Andrew Becroft. 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. Mon, 18 Aug 2025 08:38:41 Z /news/crime/couple-accused-of-100k-fake-cancer-fraud-scheme-named/ /news/crime/couple-accused-of-100k-fake-cancer-fraud-scheme-named/ A South Island couple facing a raft of criminal charges after allegedly defrauding friends, family and associates of more than $100,000 – claiming they needed money for cancer treatment – have been named. Andrew Stewart Jones, 28, and Sepiuta Setaita Vave, 38, were arrested yesterday, and after a brief appearance in the Queenstown District Court were remanded in custody by consent. They will next appear in the Christchurch District Court on August 25. Each of them faces four charges of obtaining by deception on numerous occasions between 2021 and February this year. The Tasman Organised Crime Unit began investigating the pair two weeks ago. At the time, they were living on the West Coast but relocated to Wanaka, “where they have been living the high life with rented properties and high-end European cars”, said Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Dye. “Their lavish lifestyle has been funded with money allegedly defrauded from family, friends and associates, for cancer treatment that inquiries show was never required and never obtained.” The alleged offenders appeared in the Queenstown District Court and were remanded in custody. Photo / George Heard Dye said police acted “as promptly as possible” when the alleged offending came to light, “to prevent further offending on this scale”. “Members of the TOCU will continue to investigate this matter to ensure all offenders are held to account,” he said. “Inquiries to date, including an ongoing financial analysis of bank accounts used by the couple, indicate there are other victims who have not yet spoken with police. “We’re identifying who they are and will be investigating their complaints.” Dye said the couple were already facing criminal charges before their arrest this week. “Existing matters against the couple were filed at court in April 2024 for fraud-related offending against another two victims, totalling $79,000,” he revealed. As part of the ongoing investigation, police are “seizing assets where possible” to assist with any possible reparation. “And so that potential victims are protected from further offending by this couple,” Dye said. “If you feel like you have given money away to this couple that matches some of the deceptive reasons mentioned here, or have information that can assist the inquiry, contact the Tasman Organised Crime Unit. “We’re based in Greymouth, where the team will be actively investigating your complaint.” Do you need help? If you need to speak to police about this couple, please quote case number 241031/7310. For more information about the Greymouth police, click here. If you believe you are, or have been, a victim of fraud, you can report the matter online by clicking here. You can also call the police non-emergency number 105 to speak with someone. If you have provided your bank details, please contact your bank and immediately suspend your account. 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 almost 20 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 Fri, 15 Aug 2025 03:03:33 Z /news/crime/auckland-samurai-sword-death-coroner-reveals-circumstances-of-christmas-day-homicide/ /news/crime/auckland-samurai-sword-death-coroner-reveals-circumstances-of-christmas-day-homicide/ A newly released coroner’s report has shed light on why police did not pursue criminal charges against a man who killed his neighbour with blows from a samurai sword and a baseball bat two and a half years ago.  Baden Taikato, 57, bled to death in a driveway near his Takanini home in the early morning hours of Christmas Day 2022.  He had a pre-existing heart disease that reduced his body’s ability to cope with blood loss from the two major head wounds, Coroner Erin Woolley said in findings issued late last month but made public this morning.  Police initially arrested neighbour William Charles Newman and charged him with assault. His lawyer indicated at his first appearance that a homicide-related charge was likely to follow.  But months later, police instead dropped the case altogether.  “Following legal advice, this has been determined to be self-defence and as a result this charge has been withdrawn,” a police spokesperson told the Herald in May 2023.  Police declined further comment at the time.  Police responded to reports of the serious incident in Takanini around 12.40am on Christmas Day 2022. Photo / Hayden Woodward  But the coroner’s findings outline, for the first time publicly, the chaotic moments that preceded the fatal blows.  Taikato had been socialising at his home on Christmas Eve with his adult son and Newman’s flatmate, who was described as “quite intoxicated”. Newman and his partner were awakened when their flatmate, accompanied by Taikato’s son, noisily returned home just after midnight.  The roommate had started kicking his own bedroom door after realising he had locked himself out. When Newman left his bedroom to investigate the situation, his dog got loose and ran towards Taikato’s son, who retreated into a bathroom.  An argument ensued in which Newman armed himself with the baseball bat and the sword and yelled at the neighbour to get out of his house, the coroner’s findings state.  Taikato’s son left but he and Newman’s partner continued to yell at each other, authorities said.  Baden Taikato died after he was hit with a samurai sword in Takanini, South Auckland. Photo / Supplied  Father and son returned to the neighbour’s home a short time later – the son allegedly carrying an axe while Taikato held a handsaw.  Taikato approached Newman’s partner, who was standing on the porch of their home in front of a glass door, documents state.  “Baden yelled at William, who could be seen inside the house in the kitchen, to come out,” the coroner’s findings state, explaining that Taikato’s son was at the same time hitting the house with his axe – shattering the kitchen window.  Newman began throwing various kitchen items at Taikato through the smashed window, some of which hit Taikato in the head.  “Baden reacted by punching the outside of the glass door that [Newman’s partner] was standing in front of,” documents state. “She pushed Baden backwards and he stumbled, before punching the door.  “William says that at this point he saw Baden with his hands around [his partner’s] neck, so he swung the baseball bat through the glass door. In doing so, he smashed the door and hit Baden on the arm. William swung the baseball bat again and hit Baden on his head before also striking Baden with a sword on the right side of his head.”  Taikato backed away, holding his head. First responders found him on the driveway minutes later.  A pathologist later observed a “chop injury” to Taikato’s head above his right ear that was believed to have been caused by the sword. There was also a large scalp cut caused by a blunt object that had resulted in “significant bleeding”, the pathologist noted.  The injuries were made worse, the pathologist said, by a narrowed artery in Taikato’s heart, probably caused by his diabetes. It was deemed a contributory factor to his death.  After her independent investigation, the coroner reached the same conclusion.  Coroner Woolley also noted the outcome of the police investigation.  “It is not the role of a coroner to cast blame or to decide that a person is legally responsible for the death under criminal, civil or disciplinary law,” she said.  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, 14 Aug 2025 19:07:43 Z /news/crime/police-make-arrests-after-whang%C4%81rei-school-staff-member-allegedly-robbed/ /news/crime/police-make-arrests-after-whang%C4%81rei-school-staff-member-allegedly-robbed/ Police have made two arrests in the case of a Whangārei school staff member reportedly robbed in broad daylight. The Onerahi School Mandarin language assistant was confronted by two males near an alleyway on Ross St about 3pm on Monday. Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Pilmer said the woman’s bag was taken after a weapon was allegedly presented at her. Pilmer had earlier said the weapon was not a firearm. “Enquiries have been underway to locate the two young males allegedly involved in this crime.” The pair were found by police yesterday. Shortly after the incident, Onerahi School posted on its Facebook page saying the language assistant’s bag contained her laptop, wallet and personal items. The laptop had the woman’s important university study, the school said. Pilmer revealed police had carried out a search at an address and had found the laptop. “This is a great result in both holding these two males to account, and recovering the laptop as I know it contained irreplaceable university material,” he said. “Police and the community will not tolerate violence or other intimidation.” Thu, 14 Aug 2025 03:13:48 Z /news/crime/philip-polkinghorne-in-court-ahead-of-coronial-inquest-for-wife-pauline-hanna-s-death/ /news/crime/philip-polkinghorne-in-court-ahead-of-coronial-inquest-for-wife-pauline-hanna-s-death/ Former high-profile murder defendant Philip Polkinghorne returned to an Auckland courtroom today, this time for a procedural hearing before the coronial inquest into the death of his wife, Pauline Hanna. Polkinghorne would be amenable to giving evidence at next year’s inquest if the coroner thought it was needed, his lawyer revealed. He did not give evidence at his criminal trial. Jurors in the High Court at Auckland found Polkinghorne not guilty of murder last September, albeit with a note to the judge suggesting they weren’t entirely convinced of the defendant’s version of events either. Polkinghorne’s lawyers argued Hanna committed suicide after a decades-long struggle with depression paired with a high-stress job distributing the then-new Covid-19 vaccine. Prosecutors maintained she was delicately strangled by her eye surgeon husband, leaving only subtle traces of a struggle, while he was high on methamphetamine and she was possibly in a hard sleep due to off-prescription sleeping pills. It was alleged Polkinghorne then posed her lifeless body to look as if she had committed suicide in the foyer of the couple’s $6.2 million Remuera home. Pauline Hanna's brother, Bruce Hanna, was at today's hearing. The coronial inquest, set to take place next August, has been convened to delve further into the cause of Hanna’s death. Although there will likely be many similar aspects between the murder trial and the coroner’s inquest, they are two distinct processes with ultimately separate aims. A coroner’s inquest seeks to determine the circumstances of a person’s death and what can be learned from the situation. Criminal liability is not the focus, and as such, there is no defendant. But as Hanna’s husband at the time of death, Polkinghorne is considered an interested party along with Hanna’s siblings and police. The Coroner’s Act gives those overseeing inquests a wider latitude to call witnesses, including those who might not be allowed to give evidence in a criminal trial. Coroner Tania Tetitaha discussed in broad terms today who some of those witnesses might be. She set deadlines for the interested parties to put to paper the facts they were in agreement on. An agreed statement of facts could then be supplemented as needed by trial transcripts and live witnesses, she said. Philip Polkinghorne speaks to media after he was acquitted of murdering wife Pauline Hanna. As for Polkinghorne’s willingness to give evidence, it came with a caveat from his lawyer, Ron Mansfield, KC, who also represented him at the criminal trial. Some of the submissions filed by police so far “feel like a pseudo-prosecution of Philip Polkinghorne rather than an investigation into the cause and circumstances of Pauline Hanna’s death”, he told the coroner, adding that the process is “certainly not an opportunity for New Zealand police to have another go”. “That’s what it feels like at the moment,” Mansfield added. The coroner acknowledged the inquest would be “a somewhat unusual situation” coming after a criminal trial. Mansfield said Polkinghorne would be available to give evidence “if the coroner finds it helpful”. But she might find it superfluous, he said, given the lengthy police interview that Polkinghorne gave police on the same day his wife died. Coroner Tetitaha said additional evidence from Polkinghorne could be helpful in exploring stressors Hanna had in her life before her death. “Probably the person who would know that best would be Dr Polkinghorne, to be honest,” she explained. Mansfield agreed that might be of assistance, but indicated he was worried about cross-examination trying to steer the focus to other issues, such as marriage issues years earlier or Polkinghorne’s dalliances with other women. The coroner responded that she didn’t envision that being a priority for her. “I’m looking for him to help me put into perspective what’s happening,” she explained. “The gap I can see in the evidence is what were the stressors in their marriage at the time of her death.” The coroner also noted that evidence from Polkinghorne might be useful if Madison Ashton, the high-profile Australian sex worker with whom he was allegedly in a secret relationship at the time of his wife’s death, was to give evidence of her own. Ashton also did not give evidence at the criminal trial, although it wasn’t for lack of trying by prosecutors. Attempts to locate her during the trial were unsuccessful. She has since indicated to the media that she would like to take part in the inquest. More decisions regarding who will give evidence and what subjects they can talk about are expected at the next pre-inquest hearing. During today’s hearing, Hanna’s Hawke’s Bay-based brother, Bruce Hanna, sat in the front row of the public gallery with his family. Hanna’s sister, who resides in London, listened in via audio-video feed. Polkinghorne sat on his own in the back row of the gallery. Exactly one year ago, many of the same people were in the High Court at Auckland for the third week of what would ultimately become a nine-week trial. It turned out to be one of the most memorable days of evidence, as Hanna’s longtime best friend, Victoria Pheasant Riordan, told jurors that Hanna had made an outcry to her about domestic violence just over a year before her death. “She became quite agitated and she described to us that Philip had done this to her,” Riordan testified, getting emotional as she wrapped her own hands around her throat to demonstrate what her friend showed her. “He’d done it to her and indicated that he could do that at any time. “She took that as a threat – a real threat that he could do that to her at any time.” The defence later disputed the accuracy of the testimony, which was backed by Riordan’s husband. Polkinghorne was never physically violent with his wife, his lawyer argued. 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, 14 Aug 2025 01:19:38 Z /news/crime/woman-dead-man-critical-after-both-were-shot-by-police-in-christchurch-overnight/ /news/crime/woman-dead-man-critical-after-both-were-shot-by-police-in-christchurch-overnight/ Friends and locals have been left shaken after a woman was shot dead by police in Christchurch last night, while another man was critically injured. Police were called to a residential address in Clyde Rd, Bryndwr at around 11pm after receiving a report of a man armed with a knife, threatening to hurt himself and his partner. “Officers arrived at the address a short time later and a woman ran from the house, followed by a man armed with a knife,” Canterbury District Commander, Superintendent Tony Hill said this morning. “Believing the woman to be at risk of imminent serious harm, police shot the man, critically injuring him. “The woman subsequently picked up the knife and threatened police. “Officers appealed for her to put the weapon down, but she instead moved forward. She was also shot, sustaining critical injuries. “Immediate medical assistance was provided to the woman but tragically she passed away a short time later.” Police responding to the incident on Clyde Rd last night. Photo / George Heard The injured man was transported to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. Multiple police cars and ambulances have been at a property on Clyde Rd, near Hollyford Ave, since about 11pm. Photo / George Heard Detectives are also there, with their attention focused on a rear unit, in a block of three, which has been blocked off by police tape. Clyde Rd locals spoken to by 九一星空无限 this morning are shaken up by the tragic events of last night. A good friend of the woman said she had been in a relationship with the man for about five years. “They had their troubles,” Nathan Light told the Herald. “They were off and on fighting, arguing with each other (and) sorting their lives out.” Light said he met the couple at a local church and the man was intending to “get baptised in a couple of weeks”. He said they were eager to beat their demons and had been “ditching all their old associates”. He said they were “doing good”. “They had a couple of slip-ups… it’s inevitable,” Light said. “My partner went and seen them last night. I was gonna go and see them too, but I was too tired. She said that they seemed to be OK.” Emotional friend Nathan Light at the scene this morning. Photo / George Heard He said “a couple of days prior” the woman had called at midnight “begging us to come down and help”. Light was at the house talking to the man until 2am. His partner told him last night the man was still in “his weird head space”. “This morning I wake up, scroll Facebook… I f***ing just knew straight away when they said Clyde Rd… my gut was like, bro, that’s [his friends]. “And then I saw the photo and I was like that’s their f***ing house and that’s their fence… oh no… so I ran from home.” Two local women questioned why such force was used in the incident. “I heard the two ‘boom, boom!’ [sounds] and I rung the cops and told them,” one woman said. “I don’t understand why they shot at her bro, she picked up a f* knife. It was a domestic violence callout. “She’s a f* female bro, why don’t you shoot her in the leg?” Another added: “Why aren’t they tasering them? That’s shoot to kill, that’s not good. They were good people. I saw them walking their dogs every day. They’re quiet people.” Emergency services responding to a serious incident on Clyde Rd. Photo / George Heard.  A source said police had been to the address “loads of times” for reports of family harm and other incidents. The woman was well known to domestic violence support services and was deemed “a high-risk client”. A Herald photographer on the scene last night said they saw armed police as well as someone being taken away by an ambulance. “Scene guards are in place at the Clyde Rd property, and nearby residents can expect to see a continued police presence in the coming days. A portion of the road will be closed,” Hill said. Police are still at the scene this morning. Photo / George Heard “We have spoken to next of kin, and our thoughts are with the family of those involved at this incredibly difficult time. “This was a distressing incident for the attending officers, and the appropriate support is being provided to them.” A critical incident investigation is under way, and it will also be referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), which is standard for any incident involving a police shooting. Photo / George Heard According to property records, the units, which are across the road from a playground, are owned by Kāinga Ora. Police responding to the incident on Clyde Rd last night. Photo / George Heard Wed, 13 Aug 2025 19:06:42 Z /news/crime/night-joggers-followed-by-aaron-fahey-convicted-and-fined-in-nelson-court-for-indecent-gesture/ /news/crime/night-joggers-followed-by-aaron-fahey-convicted-and-fined-in-nelson-court-for-indecent-gesture/ Two young girls out for an evening jog last winter were left terrified by a man who followed them, made a “vulgar gesture” and then invited them into his car. Aaron Daniel Fahey pulled up alongside them in his black ute and told the girls they were beautiful while at the same time making an indecent gesture at them. The girls were aged 11 and 13, police said. Fahey was convicted and fined in the Nelson District Court this week on a charge of doing an indecent act after the incident in suburban Nelson last August. His behaviour, which included following the girls, frightened them to the extent that the younger girl began to cry. The 30-year-old understood it was “disgraceful behaviour” and claimed he mistook one of the girls for someone he knew. Fahey’s lawyer Ian Miller said that did not change what he had done, and the victim impact statements showed the extent to which the girls had been afraid, and the impact on their families. “He can’t say much more than he’s very remorseful and apologetic,” Miller said. Police prosecutor Rebecca Terry said the police wanted to highlight that it happened at a time in the evening when it was dark, the victims were young, alone and vulnerable, and were approached by Fahey, who invited them into his vehicle while gesturing at them. It was around 6pm on August 10 last year when the two girls set off for a run in the suburb on the outskirts of Nelson City. The police said they soon noticed a man in a black ute was following them. The older of the two pulled out her phone and began recording him. Fahey drove past, parked and stared at them. The girls then ran away but Fahey did a U-turn and followed them again, caught up and slowed then made the “vulgar gesture” towards them, the summary of facts said. The girls then ran towards home. Fahey followed them again, stopped the vehicle beside them and asked if they would like a ride, and told them they were beautiful. The younger girl began to cry in fear, before they both ran off in the opposite direction to home, through fear that Fahey would find out where they lived. Judge Tony Snell noted the charge carried a maximum two-year prison sentence. He said Fahey had tried to have it dismissed through there being no case to answer, but had ultimately accepted responsibility. Miller had argued earlier that what happened was offensive but not indecent. Judge Snell acknowledged the victims had been left “extremely fearful and frightened”, but accepted Miller’s claim that Fahey, who had no previous convictions, had made an error in that he thought the girls were “much older”. Taking into account the legal process around settling on the charge, Judge Snell accepted Fahey had entered a guilty plea early. He said while “nothing happened” other than what was in the summary of facts, and Fahey had made no effort to get out of the car, it was important that he was sentenced on what was alleged, Judge Snell said. He said it was a “significant error of judgment” unlikely to be repeated, but added that it was “utterly inappropriate” for a 30-year-old man to behave in the manner he did with an 11- and 13-year-old. Judge Snell said Fahey’s offer to pay the victims emotional harm reparation was the appropriate way to show his remorse. He was convicted and fined $800 and ordered to pay each victim $600. 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, 13 Aug 2025 01:26:05 Z /news/crime/auckland-family-feud-sione-tupou-gets-life-for-texas-doctor-murder/ /news/crime/auckland-family-feud-sione-tupou-gets-life-for-texas-doctor-murder/ A long-running feud between two Auckland families has resulted in another person being sent to prison, as the family of a former prefect turned gang member grapples with grief.  An unusually large contingent of security officers and police filled the courtroom, the hallways and stood sentinel outside the High Court at Auckland today as Sione Tupou, 24, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder one year ago of Texas Jack Doctor, who was 22.  Although Tupou is in the Head Hunters and Doctor was a Rebels member, the killing was clearly the result of simmering animosity between two families, Judge Graham Lang said today as he ordered Tupou to serve at least 11 years before he can begin to apply for parole.  Justice Lang said he saw the feud as an aggravating factor. Although the shooting and the victim crossed paths by happenstance that evening, Tupou had armed himself with an illegal firearm in preparation for such an encounter, he said.  The shooting occurred shortly after Tupou and an associate walked out of a Mt Wellington liquor store around 10.35pm on Saturday, July 13, last year, each carrying a 24-bottle box of Speights beer.  As they were loading the alcohol into their car, a VW Golf, Texas Doctor, known to family as “TJ”, also arrived at the liquor store in his silver Mazda hatchback.  While walking towards the liquor store moments later, Doctor recognised someone in the Volkswagen and nodded his head. But he didn’t see the looming danger until it was too late.  Police investigate the scene in Mt Wellington where Sione Tupou shot Texas Jack Doctor to death in July 2024. Photo / Isaac Davison  Doctor returned to his car after noticing Tupou get out of the back seat of the other vehicle. Tupou, now brandishing a gun, was close behind.  The defendant opened fire within three metres of the other man’s car, resulting in two wounds to Doctor’s torso.  Tupou and his friend fled the scene immediately afterwards.  ‘Completely unprovoked’  Police would later find a gun in the boot of Doctor’s vehicle, but it would have been out of reach.  “By returning to his vehicle immediately, Mr Doctor made it clear he did not want any confrontation to take place,” Justice Lang said, describing the shooting as “completely unprovoked”.  The shooting was recorded on CCTV, which meant Tupou had little chance of acquittal had he proceeded to trial later this year, the judge noted. Tupou turned himself in four days after the shooting and pleaded guilty in April.  At his arraignment hearing, another High Court judge had to take the rare step of closing the courtroom to the public after tensions and outbursts between the two warring sides led him to believe those in the back of the court were “spoiling for a fight”.  Justice Graham Lang at an earlier hearing in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig  Justice Lang warned the overflow crowd today that the court would be closed again if necessary.  “No one wants to do that because it’s essential that everybody hears the outcome and the reasons for it,” he said.  But safety is also essential, he said.  He didn’t have to carry out the threat. Aside from some loud supporters of the defendant who yelled out encouragement as Tupou was led away to begin serving his sentence, there were no outbursts this time.  Two families at war  In the lead-up to last year’s shooting, there had been five “significant violent incidents” between the Tupou and Doctor families across a 12-month period.  “Several of these involved firearms being discharged at addresses of the Tupou family,” according to a police summary of the case.  “These incidents appear to be the result of ongoing retaliations between the families, with the Tupou family and the Doctor family being recorded as offenders and victims at various stages.”  No one is exactly sure how the feud started. But from several different court cases, the Herald has pieced together a timeline of how the quarrel spiralled out of control.  The first recorded incident was on the evening of 19 July 2022, when Texas Junior Doctor – the father of Texas Jack Doctor – and another son, Wiremu, turned up unannounced at Sione Tupou’s house in the suburb of Glen Innes.  Tupou lived at the Taniwha St property with his mother.  Around 11.45pm, Tupou’s three sisters dropped their mother off at home after an evening out.  As she waved goodbye to her daughters through the window, Texas Junior Doctor and Wiremu Doctor, as well as a cousin, arrived brandishing shotguns.  The Doctor family patriarch fired at the house. Shotgun pellets shattered the window of the laundry where Tupou’s mother was standing, with the shards of glass falling into her hair.  He also fired, twice, at the three sisters as they reversed their car onto Taniwha St which punctured the two rear tyres.  “That’s what happens when you f*** with family,” one of the men shouted.  Retaliation was swift.  The Doctor family lived in the nearby suburb of Panmure, just 3km from the Tupou residence.  ‘Have to protect my boys’  Three days later, someone shot Texas Junior Doctor outside his home. No one was ever arrested, but he planned to take matters into his own hands.  It was clear who he blamed.  In a text message to an associate, Texas Junior Doctor gave an explanation as to why he opened fire on the Tupou home in the first place.  “These f***ing idiots are after my oldest son [Texas Jack Doctor]. They beat him up in January, three car loads [of men] and put him in hospital,” Texas Junior Doctor wrote.  “I don’t know what they have against my boys but I’m glad it was me that got shot [and] not them.”  The elder Doctor asked his associate for more ammunition for his firearms.  “I have to protect my boys now,” he said.  Sione Tupou appears in Auckland District Court four days after the fatal shooting of Texas Jack "TJ" Doctor in Mt Wellington. Photo / Sylvie Whinray  A few weeks later, on August 12, 2022, Texas Junior Doctor and one other person returned to Tupou’s house in Glen Innes.  “Texas Doctor and the other person got out the vehicle and walked up the driveway of the address to the front door,” court documents state. “They were both holding a shotgun or other firearm.  “They fired 12 shots into the front door of the address, which caused extensive damage to a number of rooms inside the house.”  But no one was home – Sione Tupou and his family had already moved out.  The next day, police searched Texas Doctor’s vehicle and found a Norinco semi-automatic rifle and ammunition.  Rebels gang members Texas Junior Doctor (right) and son Wiremu Doctor appear in Auckland District Court for sentencing. Photo / Craig Kapitan  He and son Wiremu – both also members of the Rebels motorcycle gang – were sentenced to prison together in April last year after admitting to the shootings.  But the feud didn’t end there. The younger Texas Doctor would be fatally shot three months later, during the chance encounter at the liquor store.  ‘It has broken us’  In a series of emotional victim impact statements today, TJ Doctor’s aunties and other family members recalled his bear hugs and his laughter.  The family is shattered by the loss and will never truly heal, they each said as they took turns addressing the judge.  “As a family, it has broken us,” one auntie said.  He was the oldest grandson and great-grandson on both sides of the whanāu and a role model to younger cousins, they recalled.  Extended family are afraid to come to Auckland now due to fear of further retribution, which has made the healing process even more difficult, others said.  Texas Jack Doctor, 22, was shot in a car on Penrose Road Mt Wellington pn 13 July 2024. Photo / Supplied  One aunt described the victim as the glue that held the family together.  “He may have been a big boy, but he also gave big hugs along with his big smile,” she said. “His huge hugs are missed. His voice is missed.  “We just want justice for TJ. He didn’t deserve to be taken in such a cruel way.”  The last speaker was the victim’s great-aunt, who recalled him being a student prefect at 17 years old and the heartbreak of watching him later “patch up”. She said she was sorry for Tupou as well, “put in a situation of retaliation when your whānau was attacked”.  With both sides proposing broadly similar sentence outcomes, Crown prosecutor Brett Tantrum and defence lawyer Annabel Ives didn’t have too much to add today to their written submissions.  But Ives wanted to make sure those assembled in the courtroom knew her client “has matured while in custody [awaiting trial] over the past year” and was truly remorseful for how the situation had spun so badly out of control.  It was important that those in the gallery knew that, she said.  “He has expressed a desire, in the fullness of time, to be able to apologise somehow,” she said. “It’s a sentiment he expressed to me on a number of occasions.”  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, 13 Aug 2025 01:03:39 Z /news/crime/whang%C4%81rei-school-staff-member-robbed-by-teens-police-seek-witnesses/ /news/crime/whang%C4%81rei-school-staff-member-robbed-by-teens-police-seek-witnesses/ A Whangārei school was shocked to learn a staff member was robbed in broad daylight by a pair of teens reportedly armed with a weapon. A Mandarin language assistant from Onerahi School was about 700m from her work when she was confronted by two male teens about 3pm. Police reported the teens, believed to be between 14 and 16, had approached her after she had entered a walkway from Ross St that led to Glover Pl. Whangārei area investigations manager Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Pilmer said the pair, dressed in black, presented a weapon to intimidate the woman before stealing her bag. Pilmer confirmed the weapon was not a firearm. Onerahi School posted a picture of the bag taken from its staff member during the ordeal. Photo / Facebook Onerahi School posted on its Facebook page, saying the language assistant’s bag contained her laptop, wallet and personal items. “The laptop contains her important University study and this cannot be replaced.” The teens fled on foot toward Ross St. Pilmer said the woman was physically unhurt and had made her way home before police were called. “This is not something we will tolerate as a community.” Pilmer said police were sent to Onerahi but were unable to find any males that matched the teens’ description. Onerahi School condemned the incident, saying it was “shocked and saddened”. The school asked for people to keep an eye out for the woman’s possessions, and for anyone with information to contact the school or police. Police had been speaking to witnesses and were also canvassing for CCTV footage. “We ask anyone who saw two young men in the area at the time to contact us as part of enquiries,” Pilmer said. He encouraged the public to remain vigilant and quickly report any suspicious behaviour. Information can be provided to police by calling 105 using the reference number 250811/8267 or via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. Onerahi School has been approached for comment. Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond. Tue, 12 Aug 2025 03:09:33 Z /news/crime/guns-drugs-found-in-car-engine-bay-during-south-auckland-police-raid/ /news/crime/guns-drugs-found-in-car-engine-bay-during-south-auckland-police-raid/ Guns, drugs and cash were found in the engine bay of a car after an unexpected police visit left two men allegedly scrambling to stash a swag of illicit items, police say. Further searches of the South Auckland property by police yesterday also revealed more weapons and ammunition in a bedroom and campervan, Inspector Matt Hoyes said. Police – including members of the Armed Offenders Squad – arrived at the property in Patumāhoe with a search warrant after being told someone was acting in a threatening manner, Hoyes said. When officers arrived they spotted a man in a garage trying to hide items, the Counties Manukau South Area Prevention Manager said. “This person was quickly taken into custody without incident. A second man was then seen also scrambling to hide a number of items. “He failed to follow police instructions and was also arrested after attempting to assault an officer.” Police searched the property and found a pistol inside a bag which had been hidden in the engine bay of a vehicle when officers arrived, Hoyes said. “Also in this bag was a substantial amount of cannabis, LSD and methamphetamine.” Police found a swag of guns, drugs and cash - including some hidden in the engine bay of a car - when officers went to a Patumahoe, South Auckland, property yesterday with a search warrant yesterday. Two men were arrested. Photo/ NZ Police During a further search of the property a sawn-off shotgun and revolver-type pistol were found in a bedroom, with ammunition. “A rifle and 61 rounds of ammunition were also located in a campervan on the property.” Three of the four firearms found by officers were loaded, Hoyes said. Finding dangerous weapons and drugs, with evidence of dealing, was a great result, he said. “I am really proud of the work our teams did investigating this offending – being able to hold these offenders to account shows our commitment to stamping out this type of criminal activity in our community.” A 42-year-old man had been charged with five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm/ammunition, possession of methamphetamine for supply, possession of LSD for supply, possession of drug utensils, possession of cannabis for supply, assaulting police and resisting police. A 27-year-old man was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition and threatening to kill. Both were due to appear in Pukekohe District Court today, Hoyes said. Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features. Fri, 08 Aug 2025 02:54:49 Z /news/crime/police-investigate-discovery-of-human-remains-at-bay-of-plenty-beach/ /news/crime/police-investigate-discovery-of-human-remains-at-bay-of-plenty-beach/ An investigation is under way after the discovery of human remains at a beach in the Bay of Plenty. Police were called to Waihau Bay, about 100km northeast of Ōpōtiki on East Cape, about 11.50am today. “The remains have been identified as human, and inquiries will determine how old these remains are,” police said in a statement. “This will be followed by a formal identification process, which may take some time.” Anyone with information that could assist police is urged to make a report via 105, either over the phone or online. Please quote the event number P063420839. Fri, 08 Aug 2025 02:47:04 Z /news/crime/four-and-a-half-years-jail-for-moerewa-mother-who-caused-lifelong-brain-injury-to-her-baby/ /news/crime/four-and-a-half-years-jail-for-moerewa-mother-who-caused-lifelong-brain-injury-to-her-baby/ A mother who caused catastrophic brain damage to her infant son has been condemned by a judge for a pattern of “constant and continued lies” that clouded the truth of what happened. The 29-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison after claiming she had merely shaken the baby to wake him. “You stole from him his very future. Everything he could have been, everything he could have achieved, everything he could have experienced is now and forever taken from him,” Judge Gene Tomlinson told the woman. He was also scathing of her account of what happened. “What you said and did, and what actually happened to your son, is unknowingly opaque because of your constant and, in my assessment, continued lies,” he said. After charges were laid in 2020, the woman went to trial twice for one charge of wounding with reckless disregard after the incident that left her baby brain-damaged in 2019. At her first trial and while she was under cross-examination, the trial had to be aborted as she was having complications with her current pregnancy. Her second trial began in February this year at the Whangārei District Court where a jury found her unanimously guilty. The jury heard evidence that when the woman and her husband arrived at the Bay of Islands hospital with the baby on July 1, 2019, she said the baby had gone limp and she tried to resuscitate him by performing CPR. But following extensive tests at Auckland’s Starship hospital, it was revealed the child had suffered a brain bleed, torn veins and hypoxic brain damage only sustainable from blunt force trauma. Over the following year, police investigated the child’s injuries, and the mother gave three police interviews. In one interview, she said the baby had fallen out of a bouncer the day before he became unresponsive and she had found him face down on the floor. She told police she believed the baby had pushed his way backwards. But as he was born premature and still the size of a 6-week-old, Detective Sergeant Natalie Syddall believed this was physically impossible. The woman was living in Moerewa at the time with her husband. Photo / Jenny Ling The woman then gave another statement that, after her husband left for work, she had fed the baby and he went limp in her arms, and his eyes began to close slowly. She said she shook the boy non-violently to wake him and then performed CPR. The woman’s past was presented to the court which revealed she had previously lost a baby under similar circumstances, with the mother claiming he went stiff in her arms and died. At the trial, the woman gave evidence her current baby had also become stiff, not limp like she previously stated. The woman was sentenced in May but 九一星空无限 has only recently received the sentencing notes. In them, Judge Tomlinson said the lies began the moment the baby was injured and continued right through until the mother gave testimony in court. ‘Deliberate lie’ He said this was a particularly egregious moment in the trial in that she changed her account of events under oath. “You lied so often and so much about what you did to [name suppressed] and what happened to him, I am not at all satisfied I could accept anything you had to say,” Judge Tomlinson said. “To use one child’s death to seek to absolve yourself of causing serious injuries to another is inexcusable. “It was a cynical and deliberate lie by you and I suspect, one of the reasons the jury were able to conclude you were not telling the truth.” Judge Tomlinson described the baby’s injuries as “disturbingly heartbreaking,” noting he had suffered trauma that led to oxygen deprivation and the death of a significant portion of his brain. “He is, as a consequence of your reckless actions, denied even the basic human joy of tasting food.” In a pre-sentence report submitted to the court, the woman claimed her husband continued to be her strongest support but Judge Tomlinson noted, he has not been present at any of her court hearings. “I question that. He is not here today. Your evidence at trial left me to question the degree of support that he provided for you,” Judge Tomlinson said. Defence lawyer Jarred Scott submitted the woman had done everything she could to get the child help and it was therefore not deliberate concealment. The judge disagreed. “Whilst you took him to the hospital, you then told different stories at different times,” Judge Tomlinson said. “As your stories fell apart, or as they did not match the injuries that were located, your story changed. “You lied and you developed more lies and as your story did not pan out, you continued to conceal what you had done. To this day you continue to deny what you had done.” The woman was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. 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. Wed, 06 Aug 2025 03:19:53 Z /news/crime/man-charged-with-assault-after-hutt-valley-baby-found-to-have-multiple-broken-bones/ /news/crime/man-charged-with-assault-after-hutt-valley-baby-found-to-have-multiple-broken-bones/ A man has been arrested and charged after a 3-month-old baby girl was taken to hospital in the Hutt Valley with multiple broken bones - but no charges have been laid over her more serious injuries. Wellington Police’s Child Protection Team arrested the 23-year-old man on July 31, a month and a half after the girl’s injuries, which included a broken arm, were discovered. Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wescott said police were notified about the case when the baby was admitted to hospital on June 14. “These injuries were unusual for a child so young, and an examination at the hospital identified multiple fractures,” he said. He earlier said she had a broken arm, which was unusual for a baby that age. Police immediately launched an investigation, leading to the man’s arrest. “He has been charged with four counts of assaulting a child, relating to the more minor injuries the baby sustained.” Police would like to thank the public for providing information in relation to this matter. “This crucial information assisted our investigation which has led to last week’s arrest.” Police continue to investigate the matter. “We are committed to establishing the full circumstances of how the baby’s more serious injuries were inflicted, and holding those responsible to account.” The man is due to appear in Hutt Valley District Court on August 28. If you can help, please contact Police via 105, quoting file number 250614/8509. You can also provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. Wed, 06 Aug 2025 02:06:17 Z /news/crime/convicted-murderer-sydney-bristow-found-guilty-of-historical-sexual-violation-of-young-girl/ /news/crime/convicted-murderer-sydney-bristow-found-guilty-of-historical-sexual-violation-of-young-girl/ WARNING: This story details the sexual violation of a young girl and might be distressing for some readers. A convicted murderer’s past has caught up with him, revealing that he is also a sexual offender. Sydney Bristow, who was convicted of murder more than two decades ago, has now been found guilty of two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection of a child he was caring for. The unrelated sexual offending occurred before he and others murdered Aucklander David Taylor in 1999, but has only recently been heard in court. At a judge-alone trial held at the Whangārei District Court earlier this year, the court heard that Bristow was 16 when he was left in charge of two young girls. That night, he twice sexually violated one of the girls. The victim, now an adult, gave evidence at the trial before Judge Gene Tomlinson, describing the sexual ordeal in detail. She said that after he violated her, Bristow approached her younger sister, but the victim intervened. As she stopped him from approaching her sister, she saw his face and was able to identify him as Bristow. Ōmapere beach, where David Taylor was killed by Sydney Bristow in 1999. Photo / Supplied It wasn’t until many years later, when she saw Bristow again, that she had a visceral reaction to the trauma he had inflicted. At the trial, Bristow gave evidence that he was not in the area at the time of the sexual violation, and even if he was, he never babysat the girls, as there were plenty of adults who were relied upon. But in the reserved decision, delivered last week, Judge Tomlinson accepted the victim’s evidence. He said in cases such as this, it was often a situation of “he said, she said” but based on the victim’s accurate and detailed evidence, it was Bristow who committed the offence. Judge Tomlinson entered convictions on two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection. Bristow will be sentenced at a later date. Not long after the sexual violation, Bristow was involved in the murder of Taylor in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1999 at Ōmapere. Bristow, then 17, Henare Wikaira, and Kacey Wikaira, who were also in their late teens at the time, had been drinking heavily at the Ōmapere Tourist Hotel, now known as the Copthorne Hotel. Later that evening, they were involved in disturbances at a nearby campsite. Around 1am, Taylor chased Kacey Wikaira out of the campground and down to the beach. When Taylor stopped to catch his breath, Henare Wikaira attacked him from behind, landing “a good 20″ of his “hardest” punches, he told police in a statement. Bristow joined in, striking Taylor with a Lion Red bottle and throwing fist-sized rocks at his head. Henare Wikaira then dropped a large rock – up to 70cm wide – on to Taylor’s head. Taylor died in hospital a few days later. Bristow was convicted of the murder in 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment but was released after serving the minimum 10-year non-parole period. The recent decision relating to the sexual violation stated he was recalled to prison in 2020 but did not mention the reason for the recall. 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. 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. Mon, 04 Aug 2025 08:59:03 Z /news/crime/ex-top-cop-jevon-mcskimming-s-name-suppression-drops-on-objectionable-material-charges/ /news/crime/ex-top-cop-jevon-mcskimming-s-name-suppression-drops-on-objectionable-material-charges/ A prominent New Zealander whose case was shrouded in secrecy last month can now be identified as former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. The ex-top cop faces eight charges of possessing child exploitation and bestiality material. McSkimming, 52, first appeared by audio-visual link in the Wellington District Court in early July, but was granted interim name suppression as well as suppression of his charges. Suppression was due to be argued in court today, with major media companies joining together to oppose the order continuing, but McSkimming’s lawyer, Letizea Ord, told Judge Tim Black they were no longer pursuing suppression. The order forbidding publication of his name and identifying features, as well as the nature of his charges, lapsed today. It can now be reported he faces eight charges of possessing objectionable material containing child exploitation material and bestiality. Most of the charges have specific dates, while one is listed as the alleged offending having happened any time between July 2020 and December 2024. Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. Photo / Mark Mitchell In court today, McSkimming appeared in person wearing business clothes and a Swanndri-style jacket. He fiddled with his cellphone during the hearing, looking around at assembled media. “There is not a further application in respect of name suppression, it’s accepted that it can lapse today,” Ord said to the judge. She sought a new hearing date for November and has not yet entered pleas on her client’s behalf. Judge Black remanded him on bail until his next appearance. McSkimming had been suspended on full pay since December while under investigation for a separate allegation, although his lawyers said he expected to resume his duties after clearing his name. The nature of the original allegations, which led to his suspension, cannot be reported currently for legal reasons. The Herald earlier reported that detectives had allegedly discovered pornographic material on his electronic work devices. Among the images was material that was, at that time, being assessed as to whether or not it could be classified as objectionable. McSkimming, who immediately resigned upon discovery of the material, then sought an injunction preventing media from reporting the nature of the alleged material, which was declined by High Court Justice Karen Grau. Robert Stewart KC, who represented the media at the injunction hearing, had argued there was significant public interest in reporting on the investigations which ultimately led to the forced resignation of a public figure. “He jumped before he was pushed… the public have a right to understand a little bit more about the material that led to that, or the nature of the allegations that led to that.” In response, McSkimming’s lawyer Linda Clark said the injunction was necessary to protect her client’s right to a fair trial and court’s processes. “Naturally, in an application such as this, public interest will be front of mind and, your Honour, we say that public interest has been served by the amount of information already in the public domain about Mr McSkimming.” On the same day McSkimming resigned, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers ordered an independent review of the organisation’s IT systems to ensure there were sufficient security measures to prevent and detect the misuse of police technology. The review, which was released earlier this month, found that the organisation needed more monitoring of staff internet use and stronger filtering mechanisms to guard against “inappropriate or harmful content” being accessed or downloaded. The review also recommended better oversight of all police-owned devices, including those which sit outside the police network for legitimate work purposes. As a result, Chambers said he immediately ordered the reintroduction of audits of data and internet usage on police devices. This had been previously halted around five years ago, Chambers said. 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. Sun, 03 Aug 2025 22:26:38 Z /news/crime/arsonist-wayne-butcher-jailed-for-south-auckland-fire/ /news/crime/arsonist-wayne-butcher-jailed-for-south-auckland-fire/ A judge has granted the wish of an arsonist who told police he burned down his South Auckland accommodation because others who lived in the building were too loud and he wanted to go back to jail. By the time Wayne Butcher, 58, appeared in Manukau District Court last week for sentencing he had been in jail for 10 months since his September 2024 arrest. The blaze also damaged adjoining units at the Lincoln Rd, Manurewa property, which is described in court documents as having contracted to an organisation that supports people with mental health and addiction issues. The task for Judge Noel Cocurullo was to decide if Butcher should receive home detention or a custodial sentence. Butcher was having difficulty finding a place willing to host him on home detention, not that it seemed to matter much to him. “I think, taking a realistic approach, at the moment there is no place for him to go,” defence lawyer Shane Tait told the judge, explaining his client would be left “effectively homeless” if his sentence amounted to time served. “Whilst in custody, the schizophrenia has been treated and his mental health is better away from the methamphetamine and the addiction.” With a sentence of over two years’ imprisonment, Butcher would be up for parole relatively quickly but have the benefit of parole oversight upon release, the defence lawyer said. Crown prosecutor Anna Lin took no issue with the approach. Court documents state Butcher lit the fire on his bed around 4.25am on a Sunday using toilet paper as kindling. “The fire quickly spread and engulfed his entire unit in flames,” the agreed summary of facts states. “In explanation, the defendant stated he intentionally lit the fire because he was tired of the apartment complex always fighting and yelling. He said he wanted to go to jail because there was nothing in society for him.” He faced a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment for a charge of wilfully setting a fire that endangers life. Judge Cocurullo acknowledged Butcher’s mental health issues but said an insanity defence was found not to be available. “There is a significant amount of damage here,” he said. The judge ordered a four-year starting point, with reductions of 25% for his guilty plea and 20% for his personal circumstances – particularly his mental health. It resulted in a 22-month sentence, but the judge increased it by another four months in exchange for cancelling significant unpaid fines. He noted that prosecutors were unable to get an exact damage amount from the victims. But even if he had an exact figure he would be unlikely to order restitution, he said. “It’s highly unlikely you could ever pay it,” he said. The original version of this story described the residence as a boarding house, which is incorrect. It also incorrectly stated there was a conflict with roommates but it was other people living in the apartment complex who were fighting and yelling. 九一星空无限 apologises for the errors. 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. Sun, 03 Aug 2025 20:29:05 Z /news/crime/bus-driver-assaulted-in-central-auckland-taken-to-hospital-with-facial-injury/ /news/crime/bus-driver-assaulted-in-central-auckland-taken-to-hospital-with-facial-injury/ A bus driver was taken to hospital with a facial injury after an assault by three young people in the Auckland CBD. The attack happened around 2.30pm yesterday while the driver was sitting in a stationary bus in Britomart. Police said the victim was taken to hospital with a laceration above his eye. The alleged attackers, who were apprehended by nearby community police officers, will be referred to Youth Aid, Police said. Auckland Transport (AT) could not provide the Herald with details about the injury status of the driver but said their condition was not serious. The driver, who was on the 70 route from Botany to Britomart, will be off work while they recover from the “awful attack”, said an AT spokesperson. “Any abuse or attacks towards our bus drivers is absolutely unacceptable. They work hard so Aucklanders can move around their city, and they deserve to have a safe workplace," said the spokesperson. A social media user who posted about the attack said the driver was “sitting outside the bus with a bleeding head”. AT is planning to roll out safety screens to 80% of buses over the next two years to protect its drivers, said the spokesperson. Other measures AT takes to improve safety include deploying additional security during school holidays and training drivers in de-escalation techniques. All of its buses are fitted with CCTV, GPS and panic buttons. The panic buttons record sound so staff, who are directly connected, can respond and guide emergency services to intervene, AT said. Sat, 02 Aug 2025 21:02:33 Z /news/crime/gang-leader-accused-of-aiding-20m-meth-import-from-behind-bars/ /news/crime/gang-leader-accused-of-aiding-20m-meth-import-from-behind-bars/ Could a jailed gang leader’s happy dance – caught on prison yard CCTV – help prove his involvement in a $20 million meth import scheme? That is one of the questions an Auckland District Court judge has been tasked with deciding after a trial that concluded this week in which the defendant insisted he knew nothing of the massive importation. The judge will also have to decide if his claim of ignorance is credible. Two other gang associates, imprisoned in the same unit as the boss and seen on CCTV spending large portions of each day by his side, have admitted to having orchestrated the import using smuggled cellphones. They did not implicate their leader when pleading guilty. The defendant, whose name and gang affiliation cannot yet be identified for legal reasons, has been described as a major figure in the criminal underworld. “Just know whatever you say goes,” he wrote in an intercepted letter from prison to an overseas criminal – the only person thought to rank above him. “New Zealand is under my command and I’m under yours.” Prosecutors argued this week that it beggars belief he wouldn’t have known about and encouraged the nearly 200kg import, which arrived secreted inside farming equipment. Lawyers Henry Steele and Dennis Dow pointed out the gang boss had earlier authored and implemented a policy for taxing 5-10% of members’ criminal earnings. As a result, the gang as a whole stood to gain roughly $1m in taxed profits had the drugs made it to the streets, the prosecutors alleged. CCTV shows a gang leader (circled in red) playing chess on a prison yard picnic bench. It has been submitted as evidence in a trial alleging he was in on a $20m methamphetamine import scheme. Photo / NZ Police “I’ve put a system in place to protect our future and uprising wars in the underworld,” the defendant wrote in a handwritten draft of the policy before a final version was distributed to gang members on the outside via a smuggled cellphone. “We are not getting any younger, but we need to get wiser and smart to adapt with the new police technology that they have in place.” With his own extensive underworld experience, he boasted, he could “see moves before they are made”. The tax would go towards a variety of projects in the “underworld” and “legal world”, he wrote, including legal fees, looking after the families of imprisoned members and bolstering the gang’s weapons arsenal. Those who didn’t contribute after major scores would face fines and demotion within the gang. ‘Irresistible inference’ Prosecutors acknowledged to Judge Belinda Sellars this week that their case is entirely circumstantial. The boss did not appear in any of the encrypted chat groups, extracted from phones seized by police, that were dedicated to pulling off the scheme. And a search of the man’s prison cell uncovered nothing of relevance. Crown prosecutor Henry Steele at a 2023 hearing. Pool photo / Chris McKeen But they did have a piece of evidence that they said bolstered the “obvious and irresistible inference” of his involvement: CCTV footage from the prison yard showing what was characterised as a celebratory chair dance by the defendant within minutes of the drug-laden farm equipment’s arrival at a safe house. CCTV footage showed the gang associates who admitted involvement going into a nearby cell as the boss continued to play chess on a picnic bench outside. Timestamps on the CCTV and encrypted messages matched up, showing the associates’ time in the cell was spent typing out orders to those on the outside tasked with receiving the farm equipment and dismantling it to extract the drugs. The messages ceased after the last piece of farm equipment arrived, with the impression that all had gone according to plan. In actuality, it hadn’t. Undercover officers were monitoring the property, making plans to swoop in and make arrests later that day. Prosecutors say this prison CCTV still shows a gang boss (circled in red) celebrating with an underling (circled in yellow) after learning a $20m meth import was a success. The man's lawyer says it shows nothing of the sort. Photo / NZ Police Twenty-three minutes after the last message, one of the two associates walked up to the defendant and appeared to briefly interrupt his chess game. There’s no audio to the footage but he must have been telling the gang boss something along the lines of, “It’s done”, prosecutors speculated. The boss shuffled his feet and playfully shadow-boxed in his seat as the other man, doing an exuberant jig of his own, walked away. ‘Untenable speculation’ Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, however, pointed to multiple other times when the boss was seen to dance in his seat as he played chess. His client is a gregarious person prone to jaunty expressions, he said. In any event, it’s too much of a stretch to treat the fleeting moment as anything of substance to the Crown’s case when he as easily could have been celebrating a deft chess move or responding to a joke, Mansfield argued. Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC is representing the already imprisoned gang leader. File photo / Michael Craig The Crown’s case, focusing on the man’s leadership role, his authorship of the taxing plan and his dance, lacks “any evidential foundation” that could lead to finding him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, Mansfield argued. “None of these inferences are available,” he told the judge. “It just requires speculation that is untenable. “We’re stretching the work of inferences here to the worst extreme, in my submission, and it shouldn’t be permitted. There needs to be real and reliable evidence, and there’s simply not.” Mansfield said his client would have been up for parole soon at the time of the import and would have desperately wanted to return to his family, many of whom appeared in the court gallery during the closing remarks. That motivated him to stay clean, he said. “You can’t just infer that because [he] was the president he wants to be included in offending while incarcerated,” Mansfield said, pointing out that the gang had designated another member to take charge on the outside while the leader was behind bars. Just because the tax policy required money to be funnelled back into the gang after profits were realised, it can’t be assumed gang leadership would be involved in the planning stages of the many members’ myriad potential schemes, Mansfield argued. “There’s no requirement of that at all,” he said, suggesting that the payments to the gang could be submitted on a no-questions-asked basis. ‘Strong, direct leader’ But prosecutors countered that the defence explanations of ignorance defy common sense, especially when considering the defendant spent every day imprisoned beside the two admittedly guilty underlings. And as leader, they said, “he needs to know where the cash flow is coming from”. “It is inconceivable that he would not have been told,” Steele said. “There was no good reason not to tell him, and every reason to tell him.” He pointed to the evidence a week earlier of gang expert Ray Sunkel, a former detective sergeant who oversaw the motorcycle gang unit in the National Organised Crime Group – a police speciality unit focused on long-term investigations of gangs. Gang expert Ray Sunkel, formerly a detective sergeant with the National Organised Crime Group, gave evidence during the case. Photo / File “The president is the figurehead of the gang or the chapter,” said Sunkel, who left police in March after a 25-year career. “All decisions, good or bad, would usually go through the president.” He guided the judge through a treasure trove of seized gang documents, many of which have never before been made public. They included the gang structure and goals, as well as the duties of the top echelon lieutenants. Sunkel said he had met with the defendant on numerous occasions as part of his previous police job. “It’s clear that [the defendant] maintains the overall leadership role of the [gang] despite his incarceration,” he said. “It’s clear [he] is a strong and direct leader who is sure of what he wants. “It is clear that his members defer to him.” Among the documents submitted as evidence of the defendant’s continued leadership role was a recorded Christmas message that he directed to be distributed to all members. “Growth is the only evidence of life, and we don’t grow when things are easy,” he said in the speech, which at some points took on the cadence of spoken word poetry. “We grow when we are faced with challenges. That’s what makes life interesting: overcoming challenges. It’s what makes life meaningful.” Prosecutors also pointed to a note in his handwriting discovered in a fellow gang member’s cell, which read in part: “Communication is key – making sure everybody is on the same page.” Auckland District Court Judge Belinda Sellars. Photo / Supplied The gang leader could face up to life imprisonment, with the new sentences stacked on top of his current one, if he is found guilty of the importation charges. He also faces a charge of participating in organised criminal activity, punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Judge Sellars announced at the end of the week-long hearing that she would reserve her decision. A follow-up hearing to announce the verdict has been scheduled for October. 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. Sat, 02 Aug 2025 20:14:18 Z /news/crime/peter-waihape-raped-and-murdered-a-sex-worker-won-t-be-granted-early-release-by-parole-board/ /news/crime/peter-waihape-raped-and-murdered-a-sex-worker-won-t-be-granted-early-release-by-parole-board/ A man who raped a sex worker, then ran her over with his car, reportedly laughing as he did, before throwing her half-naked body into a river has failed to secure an early release from prison. However, for the first time in nearly 10 years, Peter Waihape has consented to be seen by a psychologist. It’s the first notable steps he has taken towards rehabilitation since 2014, when he withdrew his consent to be seen by a psychologist after just seven sessions, and had received no treatment since then. But, in a report released by the New Zealand Parole Board today, Waihape has been seeing a psychologist fortnightly and has had 20 sessions. “He is considered to have made early progress,” the board said, noting, however, that “he is still assessed as a high risk of violent reoffending and an above average risk of sexual reoffending”. ‘He was now accepting that he needed help’ Waihape was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years in 2005 for the rape and murder of a 24-year-old sex worker he’d met in Christchurch. She’d agreed to go with him to a carpark before they had an argument about his refusal to wear a condom. Waihape then strangled her, bound her hands and raped her before pushing her out of the car and then running her over with his vehicle multiple times. She became trapped under the car and was pleading for her life, but Waihape took no notice and ran her over again with witnesses saying he was laughing as he did so. Peter Waihape was sentenced to preventive detention, on top of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 years. Photo / File Waihape then later drove the woman to the Avon River and threw her body into the water. Three days before the murder, Waihape sexually assaulted a teenager whom he’d abducted off the street. Waihape drove the girl around for several hours, violated her, then dropped her off. He had been released from prison just days before. Waihape first became eligible for parole in January last year, when the board noted it had serious concerns about him. At that hearing, Waihape told the board he was willing to resume work with a psychologist and complete any rehabilitative work he needed to do, despite not having done any since 2014. “For his part, Mr Waihape told us that when he was previously seen by the psychologist, he was not ready to engage. He was very entitled. He reacted inappropriately and he had recognised that since,” panel convenor Neville Trendle said. “He had addressed his own conduct with others ... He said that he was now accepting that he needed help.” Significant work aheadIn his latest appearance before the board last month, the psychologist he’d been seeing noted his good conduct in prison, and said that generally he interacts well but will walk away when he feels frustrated. The board said that he was articulate and spoke well, and that his psychologist had validated a lot of what he’d said, and it had a profound impact on him. “Mr Waihape believes he needs significant individual work. He told the Board that he has made changes in his thinking and his behaviour and has managed many stressful and frustrating situations by simply not engaging,” the board’s ruling reads. “We spoke with him about the importance of building trust with others and communicating around what is going on in his inner world.” The board said that while Waihape had made progress, there was still significant work ahead and declined parole. He will be seen again in another year. Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for 九一星空无限 since 2022. Fri, 01 Aug 2025 03:13:38 Z /news/crime/jamie-slater-found-responsible-for-murdering-whatitiri-whakaruru-at-h%C4%81wera-accommodation-complex/ /news/crime/jamie-slater-found-responsible-for-murdering-whatitiri-whakaruru-at-h%C4%81wera-accommodation-complex/ Guests at a boarding complex began a night of drinking and playing pool in the recreational area with “no dramas”.  But when one of the guests, Jamie Slater, had an unexpected change of mood, everything changed in an instant.  Without warning, he grabbed a large chef’s knife with a 20cm blade from the communal kitchen, headed straight for Whatitiri Whakaruru, and fatally stabbed him in the heart.  Whakaruru, 26, pushed Slater away, stumbled backwards, then landed on a couch where he slumped over, bleeding heavily from the chest wound.  Today, Slater, who also goes by the name of Jamie Shippey, was found in the High Court at New Plymouth to have been responsible for Whakaruru’s death.  He was previously found unfit to stand trial on a charge of murdering Whakaruru and has now been detained as a special patient in a psychiatric hospital.  Jamie Slater, also known as Jamie Shippey, has been found responsible for the death of Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo/ Tara Shaskey  The outcome was distressing for the Whānau of Whakaruru, who felt failed by the justice system, saying they believe Slater, who appeared via audio-visual link from a health facility, has been allowed to “walk free”.  Whakaruru was not Slater’s first victim.  The court has heard he has an earlier conviction for manslaughter, relating to the death of his partner.  At today’s hearing, the public gallery was packed with Whakaruru’s whānau and friends who held photos of him as they comforted one another.  ‘You don’t deserve to be granted any special treatment’  Whakaruru’s mother described her son as a good, honest and caring young man who had a promising life ahead of him.  “He did not have an inch of violence in him,” she said in her victim impact statement read to the court.  She remembered his great sense of humour and how he would lovingly tease her.  Now, he would never have the chance to marry, have children or continue the lineage of his whānau, she said.  Addressing Slater, she said she had no words for him other than that he took an innocent life for no reason.  “My baby boy is never coming back. From this day, my life will always be shattered and damaged.”  Whakaruru’s sisters also read victim impact statements, with one describing the “excruciating” loss of her younger brother.  Jamie Slater, also known as Jamie Shippey, pictured at an earlier appearance in the High Court at New Plymouth while facing a charge of murdering Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo/ Tara Shaskey  “I stand here today with a heart shattered beyond repair, grieving the loss of my beloved brother, my parents’ youngest child, and my whole entire heart. Whatatiri Whakaruru is his name.”  She said Whakaruru was “a bright-spirited, irreplacable soul”.  His life had been “stolen” by Slater, who she described as a “lowlife, cold-hearted coward”.  Now, the whānau was left with a wound that refused to heal, she said.  Whakaruru’s other sister spoke about the outcome of the case and labelled it an injustice for her brother and the whānau.  She said Slater had been “allowed to walk free” and felt that his health and background issues were being used as a means for him to avoid accountability.  “They [his issues] do not justify your actions,” she said.  “You were aware of your actions and simply did not care.”  As the whānau were now forced to confront the reality of a life without Whakaruru, she said the justice system had failed them.  “You don’t deserve to be granted any special treatment,” she told Slater.  How a night of ‘no dramas’ turned fatal  Whakaruru was killed on April 22, last year, at a boarding complex on Gladstone St in Hāwera, South Taranaki.  That evening, Slater had been playing table tennis in the recreational area with other guests before he went to his room.  Whatitiri Whakaruru was killed at an accommodation complex in Hāwera, South Taranaki.  Whakaruru, his cousin Kingi Te Aroha Poutonga Keremeta, and friend Joseph Hori, returned to the complex, where Keremeta was also a guest, around 9.40pm after spending time at another address in Hāwera.  Shortly after, the three bumped into Slater in the hallway as they all left their rooms.  CCTV footage captured the men shaking hands with Slater, whom they previously did not know, and he walked to the recreational area with them.  Whakaruru and his group played pool and table tennis while Slater and other residents also socialised.  People were drinking alcohol and the mood in the room was described as being “all good” and “no dramas”.  At 10.07pm, Slater left the area, walked down the hallway and went to his bedroom.  When he returned one minute later, he walked through the communal kitchen, grabbed a knife and headed straight for Whakaruru.  Without warning, he stabbed Whakaruru.  Slater was then beaten by Keremeta, “as a result of blind fury”.  Hori grabbed the knife from Slater’s hand and threw it on the floor and then went to assist Whakaruru.  Other residents phoned 111 and emergency services arrived a short time later.  Jamie Slater, also known as Jamie Shippey, appeared via audio-visual link in the High Court at New Plymouth. Photo / Tara Shaskey  Whakaruru was transported to hospital but he was unable to be revived.  The stab wound to his chest went through his heart and was unsurvivable.  Slater was later spoken to by police and stated he had been “scared”.  “There was five or six people. I went to that couch. They said ‘you got a problem’, I told them ‘nah, I haven’t got a problem’,” he told police.  “I got a knife, they were playing pool.”  He also said he “didn’t give a s***“ and alleged they were ”s****y gang members".  Keremeta was earlier sentenced to 10 months of home detention for attacking Slater, and on other unrelated violence charges.  Detained in a psychiatric hospital  At today’s hearing, Justice Peter Churchman acknowledged the courage and the loss of the Whakaruru’s whānau, as well as their “frustration” with the outcome.  “I acknowledge that for the whānau it will be of little consolation but it is the way the system works with cases like this.”  Justice Churchman, who previously found Slater unfit, was tasked with determining whether Slater was responsible for the death of Whakaruru, and how to deal with him.  He was satisfied there was sufficient evidence to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that he was responsible.  The justice then ruled, based on a forensic psychiatrist’s report, which was accepted by the defence and the Crown, that Slater was to be detained in a psychiatric hospital as a special patient.  He said Slater showed significant behavioural and cognitive deficits such as impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and limited insight.  Slater, who also has irreversible brain damage, posed a risk to himself and was a very high risk of reoffending and was assessed as a “significantly elevated” risk of harm to others.  The Minister of Health ultimately determined how long the special patient order detaining Slater remained in force.  Tara Shaskey joined 九一星空无限 in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.  Fri, 01 Aug 2025 01:18:55 Z /news/crime/auckland-business-owner-ashik-ali-admits-unroadworthy-truck-killed-worker-in-remuera/ /news/crime/auckland-business-owner-ashik-ali-admits-unroadworthy-truck-killed-worker-in-remuera/ For six years prior to the moment a runaway construction truck hit and killed a road worker in a posh Auckland suburb, authorities repeatedly warned that the heavy-duty vehicle was not roadworthy.  Dangerously defective brakes were among the numerous issues cited by vehicle safety officers.  But Ashik Transport company director Ashik Ali kept using the vehicle anyway, with tragic results.  Now he’s pleaded guilty to manslaughter.  Ali, 55, had been set to go to trial in the High Court at Auckland next week for the May 2024 worksite death of roadworker Johnathon Walters.  Details of the case, including the company’s shocking history of non-compliance, can now be reported for the first time following his plea on Wednesday.  ‘Reversing at speed’  The truck, with a full payload of chip seal roading metal, weighed over 20 tons when it began rolling down an incline along Remuera’s Victoria Avenue, where another night of road resurfacing work was just starting.  Walters and two Downer Group construction company co-workers were about 40 metres downhill, focusing on their work, when “without warning, Mr Ali’s truck had a brake failure and began reversing at speed”.  “Mr Walters did not hear or see the vehicle heading towards him and was knocked to the ground by the left rear corner of the truck,” court documents state.  “The truck’s dual rear wheels ran over Mr Walters’ legs and his pelvis area was run over by the truck’s front left wheel as it continued reversing downhill.  The scene after a roadworker was hit by a truck that rolled down a hill on Victoria Ave, Remuera. Photo / Hayden Woodward  “The truck continued reversing down Victoria Ave at speed, while Mr Ali struggled to regain control as it zig-zagged across both lanes, narrowly avoiding other road workers and their vehicles.”  The vehicle finally stopped about 400 metres from where Walters had been hit, but only after it was slowed down by collisions with two lamp posts, a tree and a wall.  When another road worker asked Ali if he was okay, he replied that he was and said he’d “park up and come back”, documents state.  He instead fled - driving the truck, with its windscreen now gone, over 13km away to his Papatoetoe business premises.  When the site foreman called him and said he needed to return, explaining that Walters had been run over, Ali instead drove himself to Middlemore Hospital for a non-life-threatening arm injury.  The victim, meanwhile, was rushed into surgery at Auckland Hospital, where doctors amputated one leg and tried to reconstruct his other leg and pelvis. Despite their efforts, he died two days later as a result of the crushing injuries.  “I tried to press the brake, speed or clutches,” Ali told police when they spoke with him at Middlemore. “Nothing would work.”  Flagrant non-compliance  But the truck’s defects should have been a surprise to no one, authorities have suggested.  Ali had bought the previously owned Isuzu CXZ 72J in November 2017 and it was issued its first pink sticker - barring it from being used on the road - just two months later.  “The VSO [vehicle safety officer] recorded the truck was in poor condition and should not have been on the road,” the summary of facts states of the January 2018 traffic stop.  A subsequent May 2019 inspection “established the brakes were dangerous and the vehicle should not have been operating”.  The company director was contacted by the New Zealand Transport Agency the following year, with officials expressing concern his fleet was not being maintained to a safe standard and the company was not paying road user fees.  The accident scene in Victoria Ave, Remuera. Photo / Hayden Woodward  The suspicions were confirmed following a July 2020 inspection of the entire fleet. As a result, Ali was ordered to obtain certificates of fitness every three months.  The following month, Ali told authorities he was addressing the truck’s brake issues. But when police again pulled over the truck in Otara in March 2021, it again failed a spot inspection.  “This truck was still subject to the pink sticker that was issued on 30 January 2018,” court documents state. “The sticker had been unlawfully removed.  “The inspection identified serious safety defects, including a cracked right front wheel, loose wheel nuts, the second axle differential was leaking oil, an air leak behind the cab (the air reservoir supplies air to the brake and suspension systems), insecure batteries, a stop light not working, and worn brushes on the tipper arm. The overall safety appearance of the truck was described as very bad by the VSO.”  More non-operation stickers were placed on the truck and the driver was issued a written notice warning that the vehicle should not be operated again unless on “a direct route to a place of repair”.  As a result, Ali assured authorities that he no longer intended to use the vehicle - choosing to scrap it rather than get it repaired. But instead, it appears, he simply changed the plates and kept on using it.  By the time of the fatality, the truck had been unregistered for two years and the last warrant of fitness had been issued three-and-a-half years prior.  When Ali showed up at the Remuera site around 8pm on May 8, 2024, he had already worked a 12-hour day at another Downer road construction site in North Auckland, using a different truck from his fleet. His company was subcontracted to work on the projects.  The sticker identifying the truck as unusable had been partially removed along with the last certificate of fitness, from nearly five years earlier.  A post-crash inspection revealed many of the defects that had been identified in 2021 still plagued the vehicle.  Ali now faces a sentence of up to life imprisonment following his admission of guilt to manslaughter. Justice Rebecca Edwards set a sentencing date for November.  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, 31 Jul 2025 19:09:27 Z