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.

Mr Smith, 55, died in hospital two weeks later, and on Friday police said they had formally charged the pair with murder.

They are being kept in custody until their next court appearance later this month.

NZN

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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.

After he admitted the charge in March, 33-year-old Bradbrook was jailed for five years and one month in Invercargill District Court today.

Officer in charge of the case Detective Sergeant Greg Baird says the sentencing had brought “huge relief to the victim and closure to her after so many years”.

“She feels she can finally get on with her life. For other victims of unsolved crimes her message is to never give up, as DNA may one day be able to solve their crime,” he says.

Det Sgt Baird says it was tremendously satisfying to finally put an offender before the court for such a horrendous crime.

NZN

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By Thomas Mead

Online Reporter

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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.

One man was assaulted and the group caused damage to the home’s interior before speeding off with cash and cell phones.

Detective Simon Everson says there are only vague descriptions of the offenders and their car and is seeing the public’s help.

Officers are currently searching a property that could be related to the incident.

RadioLIVE

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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.

Peter Pakau, who has been a police officer for six years, was caught in the arrest and is charged with supplying, possession of and manufacturing a class A controlled drug.

During his appearance in Waitakere District Court he was denied interim name suppression to avoid casting suspicion on other police officers.

The arrests were the result of a lengthy police investigation into the group.

Police allege the members were involved in the manufacture, supply and distribution of hard drugs.

3 News

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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.

“The people this is targeting are those who are the most non- compliant, who are reluctant to pay anything back or respond to attempts to be contacted,” Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said yesterday.

The stricter sanctions announced in the Budget would further the return on student loan debt.

Between $60m and $70m has been reclaimed since various collection initiatives began.

The threshold for border arrest had not been set, Mr Joyce said, but anyone with a debt of more than $15,000 and who had ignored IRD repayment requests could expect to qualify.

About $7m has been spent on a tracing system by which Inland Revenue works with debt collectors in Australia and Britain to find borrowers and get them before the courts.

“This is working really well, particularly in Australia, where there are 10,000 borrowers, many of whom can afford to make payments but aren’t,” Mr Joyce said.

“These initiatives have a running return where, every $1 we spend, $11 is collected back.”

It would cost $600,000 for Inland Revenue to set up the border arrest system for student loans and those prosecuted in court could face a fine of up to $2000.

“It’s the risk of conviction and the effects that would have on further travel, and the inconvenience of being turned away at the airport that should deter people,” Mr Joyce said.

Labour Party tertiary education spokeswoman Megan Woods feared threatening border arrest for borrowers would stop the most skilled young Kiwis from returning home.

“Putting guards on the border will stop people coming back, and that’s our most important concern.”

Massive numbers of young people had left the country in the past four years and it was important to encourage them back rather than “scare them away from borders”.

Other changes for overseas debtors are higher repayment thresholds and fixed repayment obligations.

From April 1 next year, a borrower with a loan of $30,000 to $45,000 living overseas is expected to repay $3000 a year, while a loan of $45,000 to $60,000 requires a payment of $4000 each year.

Mr Joyce said: “The onus is still on the person to make payments but nobody would find themselves at border control and have not had anyone contact them about their loan.”

Other tertiary announcements included removing student allowances for those aged over 65 from January 1, reducing the student allowance for those aged 40 and over from 200 to 120 weeks, and extending student loan and allowance stand-down periods for permanent residents from two to three years.

BY THE NUMBERS

The total student loan debt sits at $13 billion and is projected to hit $14b – the size of the annual health budget – by 2015.

Of more than 700,000 borrowers, about 101,000 live overseas.

Overseas borrowers owe about $2.67b, of which $411.5 million is overdue.

About 58,000 overseas borrowers were targeted in the IRD’s three-year repayment drive starting in 2010. More than $64m has been repaid.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Source: stuff

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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.

The Parole Board said it was satisfied that he still posed an undue risk to the safety of the community, saying that Mr Francis remained a “rather angry man” in the full decision released today.

“There is underlying anger, which was apparent to the Board today during Mr Francis’ presentation, coupled with a somewhat pedantic view of the world,” the board said.

While Mr Francis had been a compliant prisoner in a controlled environment, he had never admitted to the crime or shown any remorse.

Prison authorities had “failed over the years,” to motivate Mr Francis into undertaking any rehabilitation, it said.

“Effectively, Mr Francis remains an untreated, violent offender and because he has not engaged in any rehabilitative programme, he has not at any point been on a pathway towards meaningful re-integration.”

He is therefore expected to serve out the remaining 10 months of his 12-year jail term. Francis will be seen by the board again in January for the setting of his release conditions.

His sentence ends in March 2014. He has convictions for killing one wife, by bashing her to death with a frozen dog roll, and for maliciously wounding another. In 2003 he was found guilty of the manslaughter of Ms Tea, originally from Cambodia.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Source: stuff

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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.

Acting sergeant Andrew Hosking said a group of four men were diving off the western side of Kapiti Island at a depth of about 50 metres when one of the divers came up too fast.

His buddies realised he was in trouble and contacted emergency services at about 1.50pm.

By the time the group arrived on the beach near Kapiti Boating Club, police and ambulance services were at the scene.

A rescue helicopter landed in the Kapiti Boating Club car park and flew him to a decompression unit in Christchurch.

The man was conscious and talking and Mr Hosking praised his fishing buddies for “doing everything right”.

“They did an unbelievable, brilliant job, kept an incredibly clear head in what would have been an incredibly stressful situation, making our job a lot easier.

“They did everything right. They realised very early on he was in trouble and took all the right steps. Arriving on the shore, they were incredibly calm, they need to be applauded for it,” he said.

Contact Kay Blundell
Kapiti reporter
Email: kay.blundell@dompost.co.nz

– © Fairfax NZ News

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The accident happened at about 1.25pm on Eastern Hutt Rd, in Upper Hutt.

The car has struck the pillars of a railway overbridge.

Emergency crews are at the scene.

The injured person was in a serious condition, a police spokesman said. He was believed to be the only person in the car.

Suburban train services between Upper Hutt and Taita have been suspended because of the crash.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Source. stuff

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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.

He was recalled to prison and denied bail.

A defended hearing is due to take place in Whanganui District Court today.

Wilson had been released after he completed a sentence handed down in 1996 for 22 sex offences against women, children and animals over 25 years in Blenheim – offences he still denies.

NZN

Source: 3news.co.nz

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