Christchurch police have formally laid murder charges against two men who allegedly poured petrol over a man and set him alight. Shay Barry Webster, 20, and Jason Alistor Barr, 42, were charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm after Terence Martin Smith suffered severe burns at a Woolston house on Anzac Day. Read the rest of this entry »

Nearly six years after raping a woman on an Invercargill street, Norman Barry Ladbrook's genetic fingerprint has come back to haunt him. Ladbrook's DNA sample, taken in November last year after he was arrested on another matter, linked him to the Tay Street rape of an 18-year-old in late 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

Police are appealing for information after a series of suspicious arsons in Christchurch overnight. Five fires were lit in the suburb of Wainoni in the early hours of this morning, keeping emergency services busy. Read the rest of this entry »

Waihi police are executing a search warrant which they say could be related to a violent overnight home invasion. They're working to track down three armed men who broke into a Mangatoetoe Street home at about 1.20am, where two people were sleeping. Read the rest of this entry »

A sworn police officer has been caught in a drug bust in Auckland. Waitemata police this morning charged nine men, aged from 25 to 59 years old, and one 23-year-old woman, with various offences including supplying a class A drug, aggravated robbery and participating in an organised criminal group. Read the rest of this entry »

Student loan defaulters living overseas can expect to be arrested at the border when harsher penalties kick in next year. The "last threat option" is expected to start claiming back some of the $400 million currently owed by debtors, 80 per cent of whom are overseas borrowers. Read the rest of this entry »

A man convicted of killing two former lovers and stabbing a third partner in the throat has been denied parole because of his risk to the community - but will be out of jail next year. Malcolm Francis, 64, is now nearing the end of a 12-year jail term at Rimutaka Prison for the manslaughter of Wellington woman Wathanak Tea, whose body has never been found. Read the rest of this entry »

A diver who got into trouble off Kapiti Island early this afternoon was rescued by his fishing mates and flown by rescue helicopter to Christchurch for decompression treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Man badly injured in Upper Hutt crash. A man has been badly injured in a car crash north of Wellington this afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »

Serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson is due in court to defend an alleged parole breach. Wilson, dubbed the Beast of Blenheim, allegedly attempted to contact a woman on February 18, who he was not permitted to have contact with. Read the rest of this entry »