A security guard has lost the vision in one eye after a vicious assault.
On Police Ten 7 tonight, Christchurch police asked viewers to come forward with information about the assault at Riccarton Park Racecourse about 12.15am on November 19, 2017 at the end of Cup Week.
Two men approached the security officer, Terry, who was sitting in his car. The doors were wrenched open and an item was smashed into his face. He was also punched in the face.
It is likely the security guard has permanently lost the sight in his one eye.
Anyone with information can approach the Canterbury Police.
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Christchurch police looking for public's help after brutal assault
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Big Read: Andrew Little on why prison don't work
Minister of Justice Andrew Little has laid out a vision for criminal justice reform which sees sentencing law relaxed and a rejection of "tough on crime"-style politics.
His comments during an interview with the NZ Herald have been likened by one leading academic as the boldest political move in criminal justice since former Minister of Justice Ralph Hanan, who saw the death penalty abolished in 1961.
Little said "so-called law-and-order" policies have been a 30-year failure and locking up more people with longer sentences hasn't made New Zealand safer."New Zealand needs to completely change the way criminal justice works," he said. "It is a big challenge we are facing. It's not an issue that's been a short time in the making.
He said the rapid rise in prison numbers "follows 30 years of public policy-making, public discourse, that says we need tougher sentences, need more sentencing, need people serving longer sentences and I think, frankly, criminalising more behaviour."One of the major challenges is to turn around public attitudes - to say that what we have been doing for the last 30 years in criminal justice reform actually isn't working. Our violent criminal offending is going up."
The comments follow an open letter from 32 leading academics in criminal justice calling on the Government to reject the building of a mega prison in Waikato designed to hold up to 3000 inmates."New Zealand needs to completely change the way criminal justice works," says Justice Minister Andrew Little. "It is a big challenge we are facing. It's not an issue that's been a short time in the making. (Photo / Getty)
Those academics today welcomed the comments and one leading researcher equated the import of Little's intent with the abolition of the death penalty by Minister of Justice Ralph Hanan in 1961.
The proposed upgrade of Waikeria Prison is due to be decided next months by Cabinet and poses a huge challenge when it came in promising to reduce prison numbers by 30 per cent in 15 years.
The promised reduction comes at a time when the Department of Corrections is bursting at the seams with 10,695 prisoners and room only for another 300.
Little said: "We just had this rapid increase in the last few years that cannot be explained by anything other than penal policy that frankly has got out of control."
He said he wanted a "national conversation" which sought out the best ideas but also led to a better informed nation that understood "tough-on-crime" policies were leaving a legacy of failure.
He planned to hold a criminal justice summit - similar to the "jobs summit" held by former Prime Minister Sir John Key - which would seek out a range of views and inform the public.
The High Security Unit exercise yard at Waikeria Prison, Waikato. Photo / Michael Craig
He laid out a vision of a therapeutic approach to issues which drove criminal offending.
"We know the majority of those in prisons have issues other than they are nasty people."They have health issues and other problems and if we actually spent a bit of time on those things we can stop their offending. That's where the attention has got to go."
He said other possible changes being considered were to the Parole Act 2002 and the Bail Amendment Act 2013 - considered two of the main drivers behind the prison population boom.
Changes to bail laws rapidly inflated the prison population by locking more people up to await trial, while the parole changes 15 years ago kept people inside longer.'Case for a change'"We have to look at it and in my view, there is a case for change. The case was that by doing these things we will get more criminals off our streets and we will all feel safer, we will all be safer."If we thought by doing those things it was going to reduce criminal offending and make us all safer - actually, that's not happening."
He described the changes - which were made at the time in response to public upset over specific incidents - as changes "no one will really notice and it might have an effect"."Our big challenge is to draw to all New Zealanders attention what has actually been happening and to win a social licence to say we have to do things differently."
Little said there would again be "isolated examples" which would prompt some to say "we need to revert back to the more draconian measures" which could have a political impact."That requires leadership to say no system is perfect. You just have to batten down the hatches and carry on."
Little said the Government faced three large issues - the question of Waikeria, criminal justice reform and the promised new 1800 police officers.
He said there was a risk with more police they would "arrest more people which puts more pressure on prisons".
He said the three issues needed to be consistent with reducing the prison population.
The Kituku High Risk Unit in the High Security building at Waikeria Prison, Waikato. (Photo / Michael Craig)
'Waste of money, waste of lives'
Dropping the numbers of prisoners would symbolise a criminal justice system that was "more humane and more effective" because it targeted the causes of criminal offending "for those for whom those causes can actually be fixed"."What a waste of taxpayer money, what a waste of human lives, when we know many of those people with a bit of effort and a bit of help addressing those underlying problems could actually be helped."
Little also said he believed prisoners should again have the right to vote, although qualified the comment at this stage to those serving three years or less."They are prisoners who at some point will come back into society and they will have as legitimate a right or stake in what the politicians of the day do, and they should not be deprived on that right."
Instead, it was time to stop treating prisoners as less than human, to give them a vote and a role in our society.
And, in an extraordinary statement for a Minister of Justice, he said the imbalance of Maori in prison - 52 per cent of the 10,695 prison population - revealed systemic problems in the criminal justice system,"There is a built in systemic bias or prejudice and we've got to understand that. We've got to something about it."
Little said regardless of the decision about the expansion of Waikeria Prison, the current facility needed replacing. He said the existing prison was "not humane" and incredibly old-fashioned. "Antediluvian," he said."The bits that are occupied by prisoners are, frankly, frightful. The whole environment is not one where you are going to feel, 'this is a time and a place where I can get to grips with myself and turn my life around'.
He said the training room at Waikeria was "literally a concrete box. "It's not an environment where you can learn. There's nothing therapeutic about it at all."
The East Wing High Security unit at Waikeria Prison, Waikato. (Photo / Michael Craig)
'Greater humanity'
University of Canterbury criminologist Dr Jarrod Gilbert likened Little's rejection of "knee jerk" policymaking with National Party minister Hanan's success in ridding New Zealand of the death penalty and embarking on a programme of reform.
The Labour Party had suspended the death penalty and National had pledged to reintroduce it but Hanan - as Minister of Justice - convinced his colleagues to abolish it.
Gilbert said Hanan then led an agenda that "put New Zealand at the forefront of attempts to curb crime" and a radical programme that showed "greater humanity"."The death penalty decision was important because it reflected the fact he wasn't scared to do what was right in the face of opposition."
Gilbert said Little would need to convince a "highly sceptical public" he was on the right track."None of the solutions are easy but we're at a tipping point where a bold approach in necessary."After years of policy not based on best evidence but the loudest voices, it's time we took a more sober look."
University of Auckland's Professor of Indigenous Studies Tracey McIntosh said she was "heartened" by Little's comments."We're seeing a very significant shift that could have some significant outcomes. I have always thought New Zealand could be a global leader in decarceration."
Victoria University criminologist Elizabeth Stanley welcomed the opportunity for a criminal justice summit.
She said there had never been an opportunity for a proper conversation about penal reform."We haven't sat down and worked these things out and to try and think of alternatives."
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Connor Morris murderer loses appeal again
The man who killed gang member Connor Morris with a "sickle" during a street brawl has again failed to have his murder conviction overturned.
Michael Murray, 36, was jailed for at least 10 years for the 2014 killing of Mr Morris.
His trial attracted a lot of media attention as Mr Morris was the partner of Millie Elder-Holmes, the stepdaughter of the late broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes.
After the Court of Appeal rejected his appeal last year, the Supreme Court has now backed the decision.
Murray had claimed the jury would have been scared to acquit him because of fears the Head Hunters - Mr Morris was a member - would retaliate.
He also said there was public sympathy for Ms Elder-Holmes and the trial judge erred in summing up the case.
But the Supreme Court judges, in their decision released on Friday, said there was no evidence the jury was intimidated or affected by those involved. Murray's argument about the trial judge's directions was also rejected.
They also noted the murder weapon, which was often referred to as a sickle, was better described as a long-handled billhook.
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How Sainey Marong came to murder Renee Duckmanton
It was the sheep's tongue beside the smouldering corpse that baffled most. Flaccid, grotesque bluish gristle, it seemed so out of place yet somehow so inexplicably linked.
Detectives noticed it two metres from Renee Duckmanton's singed body. They placed a tiny cone beside it, noted a "piece of flesh", "meat", and moved on with their painstaking scene examinations, all the time wondering, What the f*** is that all about? A discarded coincidence, perhaps? Or a killer's deliberately planted calling card, a sickening signature?
All murders are hard to explain. There is surely an argument of insanity at the point anyone takes another human being's life. But there's usually a reason, a motive: jealousy; greed; white rage; revenge; power; self-defence.
A slide into insanity was what Gambian-born butcher Sainey Marong tried for, in retrospect at least. Desperately trying to stack a story together of building instability in the months and days before he picked up sex worker Duckmanton from Christchurch's red-light district and strangled her to death, dumped her body on a country roadside, and set her alight.
The tongue belonged to a sheep that Marong had paid to be slaughtered the day before. After the Halal butcher had chopped it up, Marong asked to remove its tongue himself, with his own knife, elucidating that it had just looked so … "marvellous".
Stopping insulin medication had caused insomnia and lack of appetite which kept the diabetic awake and caused him negative thoughts, cruising for girls all night, he tried.
The jury stared blankly.
Kidney failure poisoned his body and sent urine travelling round his brain, he tried.
The jury stared blankly. One jotted a note.
A photo of Renee Duckmanton taken one week before her death. (Photo / Supplied)
"Mr Marong indeed was way off track," Marong repeatedly said, in third-person narration, variously explaining away his killing with phrases like, "I was out of my sense", "living in a whole new world", "disconnected from reality", "my partial conscious mind was swaying my delusional frame", "serially agitated", "symptoms of impulsivity", "flight of ideas". He cited an array of medical conditions and terminology too, straight from a textbook: psychomotor agitation, psychosis, delusions, hypoglycaemia, delirium, paranoia, mental impairment, urine toxicity, hypersexuality.
The 33-year-old became increasingly agitated when it appeared nobody in the courtroom understood his internet history: hundreds of searches for local escort girls, prostitutes, massage parlours, necrophilia, chloroform, how to kill someone with bare hands, and articles on other Christchurch sex worker murders, and one entitled 'How to kidnap a girl: an informative guide'.
Everything he did, Marong said, was beyond his control. He was insane. Just at that time, however, around the first five months of 2016. He is fine now though, he said.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio called his insanity claims "farcical". The expert added that if Marong were to be believed, he would be a walking "encyclopedia of mental disorders".
Ghazi Metoui, a forensic clinical psychologist who spent hours talking to Marong, found him to be an ego-centric narcissist with a considerable sense of entitlement and grandiosity. He was particularly struck by Marong's "complete lack of empathy", and the "callousness and ease in which he cast aside people from his life". Marong allegedly told him that the prostitutes he was obsessed with – hiring their services many times a week - were "dirty, immoral and inferior" to him.
The first question Crown prosecutor Pip Currie asked Marong on the witness stand – podgy, in yet-another crisp white shirt and tufted black hair - was whether he would agree with an assessment that he was "above average intelligence".
Aware of the glaring eyes – judge, jury, lawyers, journalists, police, victim's furious family – he smiled and tried to play it down: "That is not how I would describe myself but I am aware of so many things in life."
But not, it seems, the price of a human life.
Born in Gambia, a small West African slither on the Atlantic coast, surrounded by neighbouring Senegal, much of Marong's life and how he came to New Zealand in 2012 cannot be reported because of suppression orders.
A Muslim father-of-three, former taxi driver and halal slaughterman, his butcher friends told of a generally happy colleague, quick to share a laugh. He liked lifting weights and cruising in his silver Audi, spending time both in Canterbury and Auckland.
But around January 2016, while living in a shared flat in the suburb of Ilam, it all started going wrong for Marong. At least, that's when he says his descent into madness began.
Security camera footage of Renee Duckmanton walking on Peterborough St in Christchurch at about 9pm on May 14, 2016. (Photo / NZ Police)
After admitting killing Duckmanton, strangling her to death, he was asked if he blamed others for his downfall. He shrugged in the witness stand and said solemnly, "Everything is sad that happened to Mr Marong."
Just as Duckmanton's family and friends wriggled with fury, fists balled, in their public gallery seats that this murderer, the man who'd taken away their precious daughter, sister, cousin, aunty, granddaughter and friend was again feeling sorry for himself, he added, "And to the victim as well."
In May 2016, Renee Larissa Duckmanton was living with her boyfriend Samuel Doak and some friends at a flat in the Cashmere area of Christchurch, at the foot of the picturesque Port Hills. It was a leafy property, surrounded by trees and in the early mornings, often when she returned from working late on Manchester St, alive with birdsong.
Doak says she'd been working as a prostitute for about a year. Her earnings funded their drug habits: methamphetamines, synthetics and chemicals. It also paid for rent, food and cigarettes.
Using assuming a working name of Alena or Alana, the 22-year-old would usually go out twice a week – Thursday and Friday nights. Duckmanton was watched over by a white-haired man, Terry McGowan. He'd stopped to talk to her "on a whim" one night on his way home from the cinema. They chatted and got on well."She was an amazing person, and um, we swapped phone numbers," McGowan said.
Duckmanton's father, Brent McGrath, agreed, describing her as "adorable". Her cousin Tracey Lee McGrath said Duckmanton was "really bubbly, really happy, a lovely girl", and although 22, and streetwise, still "pretty much a kid herself".
If her minder McGowan wasn't busy, he would pick her up in the evenings and take Duckmanton to her usual spot at the intersection of Manchester and Peterborough streets. She would leave her handbag with McGowan and text him – and boyfriend Doak back at home – job details. It was her safety net.
McGowan picked her up at about 8.30pm on May 14, 2016. She'd just woken up and was wearing a thin leather black hoody with fur trim, a white singlet, shorts, black shoes, and two necklaces. She'd just dyed her hair a dark red. She looked pretty good, Doak said."I gave her a hug and a kiss at the door and that was it," he said. He never saw her again.
A few weeks earlier, a client had locked his car doors on her and she'd had to walk home. But when the same customer, Marong, showed up at 9pm on May 14, 2016 – after cruising past several times - she had no hesitation in taking the job: $100 for sex. She texted Doak.
Eight minutes later, however, she phoned her boyfriend to say the John had changed his mind, and wanted to drive to his house. The job was now worth $300. She also texted McGowan.
Doak says they'd agreed she wouldn't do home jobs. "But that night, we didn't follow that," Doak said.
Marong stopped at an ATM on Lincoln Rd and withdrew $300. The transaction, like most of the murderer's movements that night, was captured on CCTV and in bank records.
A worried Doak phoned her back. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she told him. "Stop ringing because he's getting annoyed."
Her voice was "strongly agitating" Marong. He wanted to visit a friend at Rolleston, south of Christchurch, but said they would stop and have sex. Around the Templeton area, Marong says, he pulled over to the side of the road and they had sex in the back seat of his car.
Afterwards, Marong claims that as he went to climb forward into the driver's seat, Duckmanton grabbed his shirt, and told him she wanted to return to Manchester St, saying the "job is done"."I insisted that I would have to go where I agree on. She started yelling at me," Marong claimed. "I was in resistance, impulsive. That voice, that screaming, that yelling was agitating me. The only method I could use to stop it was to compress her neck."
Marong says he snapped. "I have no motive to cause any harm, I just did that to shut her [up]."
The Crown claims it was a fulfilment of a twisted sexual fantasy. Currie suggested that he had sex with her dead body. His denial jarred."If I killed for necrophilia … I would've maintained the body for more than one day, definitely," he said. He was too distracted, too psychotic, he said. And anyway, if he did, her body would have been stiff, immobile, and would have "come with a lot of struggles"."So you would find semen all over her body," Marong said.
A prison guard told the jury how Marong likened his crime to "hunting in the wild"."They're slaves," he allegedly said. "And she met the criteria."
The day after he killed her, with her eyes and mouth open, which "reminds me of the animals that normally get slaughtered at my workplace", he dumped her body on the grass verge of Main Rakaia Rd, near State Highway 1. He doused her with petrol, set her alight, and fled, leaving a cigarette lighter with his DNA on its striking wheel, a blue beanie, also traced back to him, along with the sheep's tongue.
Marong tried to blame a scrambled mind to explain away everything. To get him off. But not even this remarkably inventive and dedicated serial liar could explain the tongue."I have no clue. Simply I was disoriented for everything I do in life."
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Octagenerian scammer selling fake birth certificates
A convicted immigration scammer is back selling fake citizenship certificates to overstayers desperate to stay in the country.
Amato Patira Hoani Tohu Kake Akarana-Rewi, also known as Dan Davis or Chief Tupai, was convicted of obtaining by deception in Manukau District Court in May 2012, police said.
But a Herald investigation has found 84-year-old Akarana-Rewi has restarted selling Aotearoa citizenship certificates, which promise holders the right to remain in the country indefinitely and also be absolved from "Pakeha law", including paying taxes.
He conducts "citizenship ceremonies" at his Otara home for family and friends, who pay between $100 and $300 for the certificates."These so-called citizenship certificates are completely worthless," said Immigration New Zealand (INZ) assistant general manager Peter Devoy.
A photo taken at a recent ceremony has been forwarded to the Herald, but Devoy said INZ was unaware of the event and to date had not received any complaints.
Cellphones and cameras are banned at the ceremonies conducted by Akarana-Rewi. A woman managed to sneak the photo forwarded to the Herald.
The woman, who spoke to the Herald on the condition of anonymity, said the ceremonies were held weekly - but on different days each week.
A Tongan national, who overstayed his visitor's visa to remain with his family in Auckland, said he went to see Akarana-Rewi after his appeal to the Immigration Minister was declined."After losing all my money to lawyers and immigration advisers, a friend suggested I applied for my right to stay under Maori law," said the man, who paid $150 for his certificate."I am grateful that Chief Tupai has approved my citizenship."
He did not want to be identified and said he wouldn't go to the police because it operated under a different jurisdiction.
The man believed the certificate would give him a "basis to fight" any deportation action.
Akarana-Rewi insists the citizenship certificates he issues are legal under Maori law, and that Maori had retained their sovereignty under the 1835 Declaration of Independence."This is Aotearoa, not New Zealand, and the black burnt charcoal man-made law of the courts are there only based on an assumption of parliamentary sovereignty," he said."I have denounced my New Zealand citizenship so I am not bound by its laws, so they can arrest me or take me to court as many times as they want and it won't do anything to change my birth right and chiefly position."
Akarana-Rewi, who says he is a member of the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of Aotearoa and also a Samoan high chief, claims he has the backing of chiefs and also the United Kingdom."It is my view that Immigration New Zealand and the other so-called government agencies are the ones breaking the law for failing to recognise the Declaration of Maori Independence," he said.
Akarana-Rewi, who also claims to be a Ngati Whatua elder and a Ratana Church minister, said the declaration also gave Maori the right to adopt "anyone we choose"."These people too will have every legal right to remain in Aotearoa as hapu," he said.
Devoy reiterated that INZ was the sole agency with the lawful authority to issue visas to allow people to enter or remain in New Zealand. The Department of Internal Affairs was the sole agency that could legally grant citizenship.
The agency had no record of any interaction with these bogus certificates, and did not know how many such certificates had been sold to overstayers."INZ encourages people who are unlawfully in New Zealand to contact us to discuss their circumstances," Devoy said.
Devoy strongly urged anyone who had been duped into paying for these certificates to contact the police.
Police spokeswoman Rachel Purdom said police had not received any complaints but urged those affected to contact police or file a complaint.
Akarana-Rewi said he had been granting citizenship to Aotearoa for "40, 50 years" and had no plans of stopping. He denied it was for profit, and said the money he charged was koha for paperwork.
He carried the British coat of arms in his wallet, which he said was what he recognised and not the New Zealand one that portrays it as a bicultural country, with a European female figure on one side and a Māori rangatira (chief) on the other.
It is estimated there are about 11,000 overstayers in New Zealand, and 2164 were deported last year, 1437 of them voluntarily.
Tonga is New Zealand's biggest source of overstayers, followed by Samoa, China, India and the United Kingdom.
People become overstayers when they enter New Zealand on temporary entry visas such as visitor, student or work visas and remain in the country after their visas expire or their applications for extensions are declined.
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Man escapes punishment after threatening debt collector
A frustrated man who "blew his top" at a call centre operator and threatened to "exterminate" them after being mistakenly chased for a debt has escaped serious punishment from a sympathetic judge.
Brendon Arnold phoned call takers working for Receivables Management NZ on November 29 last year to complain that he was being wrongfully pursued for a debt that wasn't his.
But the 55-year-old Christchurch man soon lost his cool and started abusing and threatening the call taker who tried to calm him down before hanging up.
Arnold rang straight back and demanded the full name and address of the call taker, who again ended the call.
A minute later, Arnold phoned back, demanded the address of the business, and told the call taker that he was going to "exterminate" them.
Later, Arnold explained to police that he was "uncontrollably angry" about being harassed and that he didn't owe a debt.
Today he pleaded guilty at Christchurch District Court to a charge laid under the Telecommunications Act of offensive use of a telephone.
Defence counsel Tony Garrett said while Arnold was apologetic, it wasn't surprising that, as he told police, he just "blew his top".
Judge Jane Farish said she could understand why he lost his temper.
But she reminded Arnold that if he loses his temper, he must keep expletives to a minimum or else he'll end up in court.
In the circumstances, she agreed that a conviction and discharge was appropriate.
Arnold thanked Garrett as he left the court.
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Paedophile Phillip John Smith loses right to wear his wig
Convicted killer and sex offender Phillip John Smith doesn't have the right to wear a wig in prison because it doesn't trigger laws surrounding rights to expression, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
The balding murderer - who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, paedophile offending, aggravated burglary and kidnapping in 1996 - won a case in the High Court in March last year against the Department of Corrections over its decision to take away his toupee.
Justice Edwin Wylie decided that wearing a wig was an act in exercise of his right to freedom of expression under the Bill of Rights Act.
Corrections took the case to the Court of Appeal.
In a decision released on Thursday, the three justices ruled that while Smith and others in prisons had the right to to be treated with humanity and with respect for their inherent dignity, wearing a wig did not not constitute "expression".
Wearing a wig for cultural or religious purposes was covered under the act, but the justices agreed with Corrections' assertion that "the wig was worn only to address Mr Smith's feelings of low self-esteem and self-confidence".
The justices decided that while Smith disliked being bald, wearing a wig did not attempt to convey meaning and it didn't engage the Act.
Smith was given an extra 33 months behind bars in 2016 after he flew to Brazil in November 2014.
He had been on temporary release from Spring Hill Prison and was able to leave the country using a passport issued under his birth name Traynor.
Phillip John Smith, wearing his wig, was convicted of killing the father of the boy he molested. (Photo / Supplied)
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Ministry of Justice left with no crime goal
A change of government has left the Ministry of Justice without a short-term goal for reducing serious crime rates, politicians have been told.
But officials at the ministry and Corrections are backing a move to longer-term targets.
Under questioning from parliament's justice select committee on Thursday, ministry chief Andrew Bridgman said the department no longer had a specific reduction target for the next 12 months.
The previous government set a goal of 10,000 fewer serious crimes a year by 2021, but that was scrapped in favour of a 15-year goal to reduce the prison population by 30 per cent by the new administration."It's early days and what we're doing is briefing our minister on how they can achieve that ... That will obviously have an effect on the number of violent crimes as well," Mr Bridgman said."There's a huge overlap in that ... the 30 per cent will result in thousands of violent offenders not being in the system."
He told reporters afterwards he expected specific targets would be set after further discussions with the new minister.
Taking questions from the same committee, Corrections chief Ray Smith said the department also no longer had a short-term reoffending reduction target."They may well come ... I'm quite certain there will be some sub-targets but they haven't emerged yet," he said."(The reduction targets) did drive ... a massive cultural change in how we are and who we and what we are thinking about and do every day, and that's been incredibly positive."But the idea that somehow Corrections alone could achieve a reduction in reoffending isn't realistic."
He applauded the move to the 15-year goal."I think that gives us a sensible time horizon," he told media."What you don't want to do is get into a bunch of short-term measures to undermine long-term success."
Police Commissioner Mike Bush last week told a select committee police had continued to aim for the 2021 goal.
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Prisons won't run out of room: Chief
New Zealand's prisons are increasingly making inmates share rooms and the system is "stretched", but jails won't be running out of beds, the head of Corrections says.
Chief executive Ray Smith on Thursday told parliament's justice select committee the past three years had seen the fastest period of growth in the department's history with the male prison population growing 18 per cent and the number of women up a staggering 50 per cent."The numbers have been much larger than anyone could have reasonably anticipated," he said.
But despite reports last month showing only about 300 beds had been left free in prisons, Mr Smith was adamant jails wouldn't be running out of space."We've been certainly stretched, and at times we've been at our limits, particularly with our female population," he said."We're not going to get to that point, I'm pretty confident of that."
He said double-bunking - where two prisoners are kept in one room - was becoming increasingly common but still well below levels in parts of Australia and Britain."Double-bunking was sitting at about 22-23 per cent of the prison estate. It's now probably closer to about 40 per cent of the prison estate," he said."Currently we've had to put people into smaller cells than we ideally would for double-bunking because it was the only option we had."
But he said double-bunking was not fundamentally a problem as long as other facilities at the prison could keep up.
New Zealand laws also prevented prisons from running over capacity - simply because restrictions legally limited how many people could be in the building, he said."We don't overcrowd our prisons in New Zealand. I can't overcrowd the prisons."
Asked about the rise in female crime, he said violent crime and drugs were key drivers of figures.
Almost no prisons had not had some kind of extension or improvement in the past three years.
The government has set a goal of reducing the prison population by 30 per cent over the next 15 years.
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis on Thursday said while that process would be broken into phases, it would take the full 15 years to achieve.
He is expected to soon decide whether to proceed with a 3000-bed extension to Waikeria Prison in Waikato planned by the previous government.
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Riverhead quarry attacker Colin Mitchell's dark past revealed
The man who abducted, wounded and assaulted a 23-year-old woman at a West Auckland quarry was also found guilty of raping a second woman.
And neither attacks were his first time before the courts for a sex crime, it can now be revealed.
Colin Jack Mitchell was yesterday found guilty of six charges relating to the two separate attacks - the first at Riverhead in February last year and the second at Avondale in 1992.
However strict suppression orders meant the Herald could only report on the charges relating to the Riverhead quarry attack.
Mitchell, who turned 60 yesterday, has been on trial in the High Court at Auckland.
A jury of four men and eight women heard details of the Riverhead attack, including that a glove containing Mitchell's DNA was found at the crime scene.
Identical DNA was taken from a rape victim in 1992.
Her crime had never been solved and when she saw Mitchell in the news following his arrest last year she recognised him as the man who attacked her 25 years ago.
Another section of the trial that was suppressed until today was 'propensity evidence' presented to the jury about another rape Mitchell committed in 1985.
He was jailed for five years for the attack on a 26-year-old prostitute.
A clipping from the Herald in 1985 when Mitchell was jailed for rape.
Mitchell was jailed for five years after he raped a 26-year-old sex worker.
Usually, a jury does not hear details of a defendant's criminal history.
However that tends to show a person's propensity to act in a particular way or to have a particular state of mind, is sometimes allowed.
The Crown told the jury that the three attacks were significant in their similarities - from where Mitchell took his victims, to what he said during the violations and how he reacted when the women refused to comply with his disgusting demands.
"All three offences happened in early hours morning all three victims were young women unknown to Mitchell," Crown prosecutor Kirsten Lummis said in court.
"They were taken to secluded spots, told to take off their clothes, (two were) raped.
"All were threatened.
"That demonstrates that Mitchell has a tendency to treat young women who have been out on the streets at night in a particular way."
The 1984 rape
Mitchell gave evidence for his own defence on Monday. He acknowledged that he was convicted of rape in 1985 in relation to an incident the previous year, but maintained his innocence on the more recent charges.
"I was stupid in 1984, I've learnt my lesson," he told the jury.
"I was trying to go straight."
Mitchell claimed police got the wrong person and he was not the man responsible for the Riverhead attack.
He further claimed that he had met the 1992 victim in a bar and had consensual sex with her - but he did not rape her.
"It was definitely not consensual, most definitely not," the victim told the court during her evidence last week.
She said she had been at a gig at the Glue Pot bar in Ponsonby and was walking home to Kelston when a man offered her a ride.
She accepted it and he drove her to Avondale.
Soon after she got out of the car she was grabbed off the street, dragged behind a factory and sexually assaulted.
Her rapist, now known to be Mitchell, drove off and left her lying "trussed up" with her own pantyhose in the dark.
She admitted lying to police at the time about the driver of the car she got into, telling them it was a female.
But she did not lie about being raped.
"I lied to police because I was incredibly uncomfortable, being made to feel like I was an incredibly stupid girl… they weren't very nice, they were treating me like I was a criminal, like I was the person to blame," she said.
Defence lawyer Mark Ryan accused the woman of lying about the whole attack.
He put to her that she made up the rape complaint because she was angry her sexual partner had driven off and left her at Avondale and she, effectively, wanted a ride home from police.
Mitchell will be sentenced on May 18 and the Crown has indicated it will seek preventive detention - an indefinite term of imprisonment.
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Woman sexually assaulted while locking car in Mt Albert, Auckland
A woman was sexually assaulted as she locked her car in central Auckland on Sunday night.
Detective Senior Sergeant Glenn Baldwin said the woman had parked on Springleigh Ave in Mt Albert, off Woodward Rd, about 8pm on February 25 and was locking her car when the man approached her from behind.
He grabbed her and sexually assaulted her before running west down Springleigh Ave, towards Phyllis Street Reserve.
"The offender is described [as an] adult, of average build, 5'8" in height or possibly shorter with short hair and was wearing glasses," Baldwin said.
"He smelled strongly of alcohol. He was possibly wearing a light coloured T-shirt and dark beach shorts.
Anyone who has any information or saw anything suspicious in the area is asked to call Detective Constable Kim on 021 191 2657 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Canadians admit smuggling $22m worth of cocaine on cruise ship
Two Canadians have pleaded guilty to smuggling $22.5 million of cocaine on a cruise ship that entered New Zealand.
Melina Roberce, 23, and Andre Tamine, 64, were part of a trio found with four suitcases containing 95kg of cocaine after the Sea Princess was stopped in Sydney on August 28, 2016, during a round-the-world cruise.
The trio used the 51-day cruise from the UK through Latin America and New Zealand before arriving in Australia to transport more than $22.5 million worth of cocaine.
Australian Border Force had identified the trio as "high-risk travellers" on the vessel, which was under increased scrutiny because of the large number of ports it had stopped at. They concluded the trio were part of a "very well organised syndicate".
Former adult actress Isabelle Lagace, who was part of the trio, claimed she was forced to transport the drugs to clear a $21,000 debt, calling it an "error in judgment" that would haunt her for the rest of her life."It pains me to know that my defining years of womanhood will be spent in prison halfway around the world," she said."I feel remorse and anger at myself about being involved with people who are part of a dirty, filthy drug trade."
Tamine and Roberce were expected to stand trial this month before they pleaded guilty to a charge of jointly commissioning the importation of a commercial quantity of border-controlled drug, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Lagace was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on November 3 for her part in the drug-smuggling attempt.
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Cocaine seized on a cruise ship by Australian Border Force. (Photo / Australian Border Force)
According to the Daily Mail, Roberce's father became worried when his daughter told him she was embarking on a two-month, round-the-world cruise.
He warned her not to go on the trip adding: "Who is paying $22,000 for your holiday?"
But the college drop-out went ahead on the cruise, which also took her into New Zealand.
Police on three continents are looking into the background of who else may have been involved in the smuggling, which amounted to the biggest haul of drugs from a passenger ship or plane.
United States border control agencies in Canada and colleagues in New Zealand had identified the three as high-risk travellers and suspected them of being part of an international drug trafficking cartel.
Australian police have made it clear that the alleged smuggling was part of an "international crime syndicate" and that the drugs were meant to flood the illicit trade in Sydney and surrounding areas.
Assistant commissioner AFP Shane Connelly said: "These cartels should be advised that Australian Border Services are aware of all the methods they could use to bring drugs into our country and we are working with several international agencies to stop."
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Auckland media boss acquitted of indecent assaults after women's 'potential motive to lie'
An Auckland media boss and Queen's Service Medal recipient accused of indecently assaulting female employees has been acquitted, while the presiding judge says the women had "a potential motive to fabricate evidence".
The Herald on Sunday can reveal the case after the businessman lost his bid for permanent name suppression and now fears publicity may harm his financial interests and political aspirations.
At the centre of the allegations is former Indian newspaper owner Giriraj Gupta, 73, who was charged with two counts of indecent assault.
However, both charges were dismissed following a judge-alone trial before Judge Eddie Paul in the Auckland District Court last December.
In his reserved decision, released to the Herald on Sunday, the judge said the women's versions of events displayed a "coincidence [that] seems surprising to me"."I am also mindful of the potential motive to fabricate evidence in this trial. That is, to lie," he said.
Gupta also said on Friday that he was pleased to have been vindicated by the decision.
The case comes amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations in New Zealand's workplaces during recent months, most notably at law firm Russell McVeagh.
Gupta's public profile rose after he became a shareholder and director of the Indian Weekender. He held the positions for more than seven years before retiring in August 2016, citing personal reasons.
In May 2013 he received the Queen's Service Medal for services to business and the Indian community. He was also named the chairman of the India Trade Alliance.
Judge Paul said Gupta holds "significant public profile" in the New Zealand-Indian community, while the Herald on Sunday understands Gupta, several political friends.
Former NZ First MP Mahesh Bindra, a whisky drinking pal of Gupta's, gave evidence for the defence during Gupta's trial.
While the deputy chairman of the India Trade Alliance is former Minister of Internal Affairs Dr Richard Worth, who resigned from John Key's Cabinet in 2009 after claims of indecent assault against two women.
The allegations against Worth were later dropped.
In 2016 Gupta was also involved in a donation scandal with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
The trial: Claims of bullying and sexual misconduct
Gupta's charges stemmed from two alleged incidents with an employee on April 7, 2015, in a car and at the Indian Weekender's office.
A second female worker also gave propensity evidence during the trial and claimed Gupta had inappropriately touched her.
The first woman told the court she was driving with her boss to a business meeting on the North Shore when Gupta reached over and groped her breast.
She said he then told her to, "just pretend that nothing has happened".
After returning to the office in tears, she said Gupta again made an advance and grabbed her waist and breast.
She said Gupta, who treated her like a daughter, tried to apologise on both occasions, while another employee recalled seeing the woman "came back and was shivering".
But Gupta's defence, led by Paul Dacre QC, strenuously denied the allegations and argued the trip never happened.
The woman also said Gupta was helping her with a residency visa and further alleged the newspaper forced her to pay back part of her salary on a fortnightly basis, which led to a Human Rights Commission complaint.
Giri Gupta and Babaji Badi celebrating the 60th anniversary of Indian independence in 2007. Photo / NZ Herald
The second woman said Gupta would proposition her in the office and claimed he violated her just two days after the first woman. However, independent evidence shows Gupta had left the country on a flight to Singapore that morning.
The woman later said she'd mistaken the date, but Judge Paul said it showed a lack of reliability and undermined her complaint and credibility."I have got to say she appeared to brush off her mistake as inconsequential and frankly I find that unconvincing," he said in his decision.
The woman alleged Gupta had driver her to Muriwai Beach after the pair were due to discuss a book deal.
Concerned about the situation, she said she texted a workmate street names she passed.
After arriving at the beach, she said Gupta began touching her and rubbing his fingers through her hair before telling her, "It may seem a little off at the beginning but it will be fine given time."
Gupta completely denied the Muriwai trip.
The woman also claimed Gupta had promised her a promotion but that personal issues saw her "humiliated and belittled".
When giving evidence, Gupta said she was an "angry woman" who he'd since offered a job to work for Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
Former NZ First MP Mahesh Bindra, a whisky drinking pal of Gupta's, gave evidence during his friend's trial. Photo / Dean Purcell
Both women said they later learned of each other's alleged incidents, which led to Gupta's arrest in September 2016."When you feel like you want to sue him, let me know and I will also join you," the second woman said she told the first.
However, when making his judgment, Judge Paul said he was unconvinced by the second woman's evidence and "simply put it to one side".
He said he was "mindful of the possibility of collusion" between the two women."I am simply unable to exclude [Gupta's] denials as a reasonable possibility," he said.
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Papamoa man admits multiple drugs and firearm charges
A Papamoa man caught dealing P and cannabis also had a cut-down sawn-off shotgun and 70 rounds of ammunition in his bedroom, a Tauranga court heard.
Ngatote Alan Edwards, 25, pleaded guilty to eight drug and firearm charges when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court yesterday via an audio-visual link from prison.
That is two charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, one charge each of offering to supply methamphetamine and cannabis, conspiring to deal P and supply cannabis, and supplying both drugs.
Four of the drugs charges are representative counts which means the offences were committed more than once between January 15 and February 11, 2017.
The summary of facts revealed that on February 15 last year when police armed with a drugs search warrant visited Edwards' Simpson Rd, Papamoa address.
During the search, police found a cut-down pump action shotgun hidden under a chest of drawers in Edwards' bedroom and near it were 20 rounds of shotgun ammunition.
Also found in the bedroom was another 50 rounds of .22 ammunition.
Edwards does not hold a firearms licence.
On March 6, 2017, police obtained a production order to search Edward's cell phone and text communications showed evidence of him dealing methamphetamine and cannabis.
That included offering to supply P and conspiring to supply the 5.5 grams of methamphetamine with a total street value of about $3150.
Edwards also conspired with an unknown person to supply 538 grams of cannabis with an estimated value of about $5700.
When earlier confronted by police Edwards said the shotgun and ammunition were for his protection.
Judge Paul Mabey, QC, remanded Edwards in custody pending sentencing on April 13,
The judge told Edwards he was making no promises what the sentence would be, but called for a home detention report.
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Helpless brother watched on as sister was shot at point blank range, court hears
After yet another quarrel, Turiarangi Tai grabbed a shotgun and blasted his girlfriend at point-blank range - her nearby brother powerless to stop him - a Crown prosecutor has told an Auckland court.
Tai now stands trial in the Auckland High Court, after pleading not guilty to murdering 22-year-old mother-of-two Chozyn Koroheke, in April last year.
A woman is also standing trial alongside him, charged with being an accessory to murder for allegedly ordering Tai a taxi to evade capture by police.
The woman's name cannot be published by order of the court.
At the time of the shooting, Tai was sharing a three-bedroom home with Ms Koroheke and her brother and his girlfriend, prosecutor Mark Williams told the jury on Monday.
Tai and Ms Horoheke had been in a relationship only a short time."But it was one characterised by violence at (Tai's) hands," Mr Williams said.
In their last argument before the shooting on April 4, 2017, Tai had hit Ms Koroheke in the head with a rock, he said.
A month before that, he stabbed her, he said.
On the day of Ms Koroheke's death, the couple had been fighting again, with Ms Koroheke complaining to her brother that Tai had refused to talk to her all day.
He instead packed his belongings into his car. When he had finished, he called Ms Koroheke and asked her for a cigarette and petrol money."You haven't talked to me all day, why would I help you," she replied, according to Mr Williams.
The exchange appeared to enrage Tai, who shortly after burst into a small bedroom where Ms Koroheke and her brother and his girlfriend were.
Saying, "you f*** bitch", he bashed his girlfriend on the head with the barrel before lowering it and shooting her in the stomach.
Despite paramedics arriving at the scene just minutes later, Ms Koroheke died.
Tai managed to evade police capture for two weeks before finally handing himself in.
His trial is set down for just over three weeks.
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Six in court over $20m cocaine bust
Six people have appeared in the Tauranga District Court following a police raid that netted an estimated $20 million worth of cocaine.
Deni Cavallo, 46, Mario Habulin, 46, Matthew Scott, 44, Benjamin Northway, 35, and Dean Yang, 29, are accused of being part of a syndicate that allegedly brought 46kg of the class A drug into New Zealand.
They have all pleaded not guilty to over 50 charges including importing, possessing and supplying class A drugs, money laundering and participating in an organised crime syndicate.
The cocaine was allegedly stashed in a hidden compartment on a commercial shipping vessel - the Maersk Antares - which arrived at the Port of Tauranga on October 31.
Police said it was the largest single cocaine shipment seized in New Zealand history and four people were initially charged.
Thi Lieu Le, 51, has also been charged with four counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime and being part of an organised crime syndicate following her arrest in Sydney.
She was remanded in custody without plea and will reappear on March 20.
Lawyers representing Cavallo, Habulin and Northway have expressed concerns that the police were moving to slowly with disclosure of evidence against their clients.
The crown also formally withdrew a charge of money laundering against a seventh person, 36-year-old Thi Ngoc Hoa Do.
Cavallo, Habulin, Scott and Northway were further remanded in custody until their next court appearance on April 10. Yang was remanded on bail and will reappear with the others on the same date.
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Rape trial aborted for rising motorsport star
A rising motorsport star accused of rape and indecent assault has had his trial aborted.
Faine Kahia from Taupo was on trial in the Rotorua District Court this week but an application to abort the trial was made this morning, on the second day of the trial.
Judge Tony Snell allowed the application and aborted the trial. The reasons for aborting the trial were suppressed.
Kahia, 21, has been remanded on existing bail for a callover in the Rotorua District Court on April 6.
He has pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual violation by rape, three charges of indecent assault, two charges of male assaults female and one charge of a sexual assault of a young person.
The charges relate to alleged offending in 2014.
Kahia was accepted into the New Zealand Elite Motorsport Academy, received a sponsorship deal with Giltrap Group and represented New Zealand in the Formula 4 South East Asia Championships helped with $2000 raised through a Givealittle page.
The former Taupo-nui-a-Tia College student was also named a Maori youth ambassador and was a finalist in the Matariki Awards, young achiever category.
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Name suppression lifted over murder of 14-week-old baby
The identity of a Tauranga man who killed a 14-week-old baby boy can now be revealed.
Name suppression has been lifted from Surender Singh Mehrok, 21, who was convicted of murdering Richard Royal Uddin, whose skull had been "cracked like an egg" after an assault in June 2016.
Richard suffered multiple skull fractures and the forensic evidence was consistent with his head hitting a carpeted floor with significant force, similar to a high speed car crash.
Mehrok, who was 19 at the time, admitted causing the fatal injuries but denied he meant to kill the baby.
But he was found guilty of murder after a trial in the High Court at Tauranga last July and will serve at least 14 years and 6 months of a mandatory life sentence.
Name suppression has been lifted from Surender Singh Mehrok who was convicted of murdering Richard Royal Uddin. Photo/George Novak
In sentencing Mehrok last August, Justice Mary Peters accepted Mehrok had not meant to kill Richard but must have known assaulting a defence 14-week-old baby was likely to cause his death.
"Richard Uddin was a lovely little baby and his death is tragic for everyone," said Justice Peters. "No one but you knows precisely what happened but Richard's injuries tell a powerful story."
Mehrok was in a casual relationship with Richard's mother Nikita Winiata and was babysitting on the night he inflicted the fatal injuries.
She was left "heartbroken" by her son's death, suffered nightmares and turned to drugs and alcohol to numb her pain, according to her victim impact statement read to the court."I will never hear Richard say 'I love you mum' and have a hug. This is every parent's dream, which as been taken away from me," the grieving mother said."I feel Richard has been wiped out of our lives...and I fear the way he died, he must have been in pain which no child of any age should experience."
Mehrok has appealed the murder conviction - arguing it was manslaughter - but no date has been scheduled for a hearing in the Court of Appeal.
He had no previous convictions.
The guilty verdict on the murder charge means the jury accepted the Crown case that even if Mehrok didn't mean to kill Richard, he knew the assault was likely to lead to his death.
The Herald has obtained the medical evidence presented to the jury, including x-rays and 3D modelling, of the injuries suffered by the infant.
Several CT scans and post mortem examination showed Richard suffered multiple fractures to the back of his scalp and both sides of his skull, as well as several brain lacerations.
Dr Vivienne Hobbs, who tried to resuscitate Richard after he was taken to Tauranga Hospital by his mother, said significant force, similar to a high-speed car crash, would be needed to cause such injuries."Either the baby's head impacted on something or something impacted with the boy's head."
Another expert, pathologist Dr Dianne Vertes, told the jury these types of injuries would have been most likely caused by the baby's head hitting a hard surface.
CT scans show the multiple fractures which caused the death of baby Richard Uddin. Photo / Supplied
The baby had a misshapen, flattened head with an injury, 13cm by 9.5cm, with a weave pattern across the back of his skull.
Dropping Richard on the floor, or accidentally bumping his head on the wall, would not cause these types of injuries, said Dr Vertes.
"This is a violent force. This is significant force which is the better word."
A third expert, paediatric radiologist Dr Russell Metcalfe said there were multiple fractures revealed in the CT scans and 3D imaging of the baby's skull.
As well as depression fractures, "gross" brain swelling and significant bleeding, there were lots of smaller fractures. "Too many to count," Dr Metcalfe told the jury.
He had seen many head injuries caused by blunt force trauma during his 23 years at Starship Hospital and ranked Richard's injuries in the "severe" category."This was no accident," Crown Solicitor Anna Pollett told the jury in her opening address. "This was an extreme amount of force inflicted on a defenceless 14-week-old."[The defendant] completely lost it...and he assaulted Richard Royal with the intent to kill him, or diced with the risk that it would cause his death."
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Dunedin man guilty of killing best friend following boozy argument
A Dunedin man has been found guilty of killing his best friend following a boozy argument at their home.
After about three hours' deliberation, the jury in the High Court at Dunedin unanimously found Jason Karl Blackler, 48, guilty of the manslaughter of 66-year-old Alan James Fahey.
On October 25, 2016, the pair had a lengthy drinking session at their Brockville Rd flat but the revelry spiralled into violence after the pair had washed down almost a whole bottle of Jagermeister with a box of beers.
According to Blackler, Fahey - known to his mates as "God" or "Grumpy Old Decorator" - made sexually inappropriate comments about his terminally-ill sister.
In his police interview the next day, the defendant said he "blacked out" after that and did not remember striking the victim.
He told Detective David Checketts he suffered rage-induced memory lapses that would see him "lash out at the first thing contactable", and the condition was exacerbated by alcohol consumption, he said.
Bloody footprints from Fahey's body leading to the bathroom showed Blackler tried to wash himself after the attack but he was not totally successful.
He got a taxi from his house to his then partner's address in Corstorphine that night, and when police worked out which cab he had used, they combed the car for evidence.
Forensic staff found traces of blood 600,000 million times more likely to be from Fahey than anyone else in the country on the passenger seat panel.
Blackler spoke to his girlfriend on the phone before getting to her house and sat up with her all night, the court heard.
She gave evidence that nothing was said about the violent incident over the course of the eight hours they spent together.
But her teenage daughter gave the jury a different story.
She said she overheard Blackler telling her mother he thought he had killed his best friend."He knew what he'd done. He knew why he'd done it," Crown prosecutor Robin Bates said in his closing address.
Defence counsel Anne Stevens argued Fahey's facial wounds were just as likely to have come from him drunkenly staggering around his messy home and falling over as they were from an assault.
She said the blood in the bathroom could just as easily have come from him trying to clean himself up before he collapsed and died of a heart attack in the lounge.
If Blackler had been responsible for the attack, his level of intoxication meant he could not have formed the requisite intent for the charge to be proven, she said.
But the jury disagreed.
For a guilty verdict on a charge of manslaughter the Crown had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the unlawful act inflicted on the victim was a "substantial and operative cause of death".
While pathologist Dr Martin Sage could not make a definitive finding on what killed Fahey, he noted the man suffered severe heart problems as well as lung disease.
Though he described the cuts and bruises to the victim's face and the small broken bone in his throat as "non-fatal", he said there was nothing to indicate he would have died without the assault.
The video of Blackler's police interview saw him cry and sob repeated apologies to his dead flatmate."He was like my dad that I never had," he said.
Bates said he accepted Blackler did not mean to kill Fahey and that he was sorry for what he did."Remorse is slightly different from not intending to do something at the time," he said.
Blackler was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.
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Dunedin driver causes chaos, crashes
A woman faces multiple charges after a crash, a hit and run, another crash and a pursuit in Dunedin last night.
The action began about 10.05pm, a police spokeswoman said, when police went to a crash in the Octagon, where two cars were involved in a minor collision.
One of the drivers got out of their vehicle to inspect the damage and while standing in front of the other vehicle they were allegedly hit by the car and knocked off their feet.
The offending driver allegedly proceeded to flee from the scene down Princes St before running a red light at the intersection of Gordon and Crawford Sts and hitting another vehicle with a person in it.
She then drove away from that scene and onto the motorway towards Mosgiel, the spokeswoman said.
Police responded and attempted to pull over the fleeing driver but she failed to stop.
A brief pursuit began and after a time she pulled over.
Police had no immediate information on the condition of the person who was injured, or the person in the car that was crashed into at the red light.
The 36-year-old woman was arrested and charged with failing to stop, two charges of failing to ascertain injury, driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner, operating a motor vehicle recklessly and driving with excess breath alcohol.
She is due to appear in Dunedin District Court on March 13.
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