The Latest from Crime

A New Zealand naval patrol ship has helped the Fiji Government to retrieve 12 kilograms of cocaine from a remote island - the second cocaine seizure from the same island this month. The inshore patrol vessel HMNZS Taupō recovered the illicit drugs from an island that forms part of Fiji's Lau group, following a request from Fiji Revenue and Customs Service. Early in July, Fiji authorities recovered 40kg of cocaine from the same island, which is accessible only by ship. HMNZS Taupō, which is conducting combined maritime patrols with the Fiji Navy and other Fiji enforcement agencies, brought the cocaine cache to Suva early on Friday before resuming its fisheries patrol. The Fiji Police Force tested the retrieved packages and confirmed that they contained cocaine. Taupō commanding officer Lieutenant Benjamin Flight said the joint maritime patrols were "focused primarily on enforcing regulations for inshore fishing", but also supported other Fijian agencies when required. Fiji Revenue and Customs Service chief executive Visvanath Das said the joint operation sent a clear message. "Fiji authorities are determined to protect our country's borders and will not allow it to be used as a transit or a destination for illegal drugs," he said. "Surveillance in coastal communities and seas is an ongoing challenge for Customs. However, with the assistance and co-operation from island communities, we can protect our borders from illicit trade." The NZ Defence Force said it was the second consecutive year it had deployed an inshore patrol vessel to help Fiji patrol its exclusive economic zone of over 1.2 million square kilometres.

Murder accused Cory Jefferies told police he didn't think his partner wore her Fitbit during the period before she went missing. In a police DVD interview with Detective Constable Janine Post played to the High Court at Hamilton today, Jefferies also said cellphone reception in the Arohena, South Waikato, area where they lived was often poor and could take a couple of days to get text messages or alerts to missed calls. Jefferies denies a charge of murdering Richmond, his partner of 26 years. However, he does admit causing her death but says it was unintentional. Richmond, 42, was missing for 11 months before her body was found inside their Ford Ranger which had been dumped in Lake Arapuni. The couple had been socialising with other locals at the Arohena Hall in South Waikato when a fight broke out in their car on the way home sometime after 3.39am. The Crown alleges Jefferies, 46, was an enraged, jealous partner who had told various people on different occasions that he wanted to "f****** kill the bitch" and he wanted "her gone". Jefferies' DVD interview from August 19 was today played to the court. He said she didn't wear her Fitbit as often as she used to and wasn't sure if she was wearing it the night she disappeared as she was wearing a jacket."She used to wear it all the time when she first got it but it petered out a bit." She had owned it for between six months or a year, he told Detective Constable Janine Post, the interviewing officer. Jefferies said he texted Richmond at 1.22pm on the Sunday, the afternoon of her death, asking "what time are you back?" He said he also texted her good friend Barbara Cottingham and then her mother the next day. Their children also called and texted their mother, pleading for her to come home."Hi it's [daughter] where are you because I need you home here." Asked about the mood at the end of the night at the Arohena Hall, Jefferies said it was the same from earlier on."Just cruising along having a few drinks." Kim Richmond was a champion at table tennis but loved all sports and was about to start training for a marathon before her death in July 2016. (Photo: NZ Herald/Supplied) THE AFFAIRYesterday, the man at the centre of the affair, Alfons Te Brake, explained how things became romantic in November 2015. He said there had been kissing and cuddling between himself and Richmond on several occasions. He recalled a couple of incidents in the following months when he was approached by Jefferies about an affair. The most recent before her death was on July 9, 2016. "[Jefferies] mentioned along the lines that he was going to f*** up my life and Kim's. I said, 'You go and help yourself.' I didn't ask him how he was going to do it." CHANGING THE TRACK Detective Craig Lemins told the court that Jefferies said the argument in the car home on the way home started after he changed the music from The Feelers CD to a radio station."I changed it to a different song," he said in his statement days after her disappearance. "Kim replied 'why don't you change it back to what it was." He said he drove them home, parked their Ford Ranger, hung the keys up in the kitchen and went to bed. He then watched, a few minutes later, as Kim got in the truck and drove out of the driveway. BUSTED BY TECHNOLOGY The Crown say it was a combination of tracking from the couple's cellphones and Richmond's Fitbit which helped them close in on who was responsible. Her Fitbit recorded a period of elevated heartbeat between 3.30am and 3.39am as the couple helped tidy the hall before they set off and it calmed down. Her last recorded heartbeat was at 3.43am. After stopping on the side of the road, about 120m from home, cellphone records helped detectives track Jefferies' phone as it travelled to Lake Arapuni before it headed back home. However, the tracking revealed it was moving much slower - at walking pace. Jefferies eventually reported her missing on the Monday when he contacted Richmond's mother, Raywynne, asking if she had heard from or seen her daughter as he hadn't seen her since early Sunday morning. WAS IT MURDER? Defence counsel Tom Sutcliffe told the jury on Tuesday that just because his client accepted responsibility for Richmond's death it didn't mean he meant to cause it."It does not mean that he meant to cause her bodily injury that was known at the time be likely to cause her death."What you can accept ... is that the defendant is responsible for Kim Richmond's death. The defence say that in that instance that Mr Jefferies is therefore guilty of culpable homicide in that he committed the offence of manslaughter not murder." He told the jury the issue was one of intent."The test is what his state of mind was at the time."

Zek Campey is holding on to hope that his father's "beautiful" classic Ford Mustang, stolen on his watch of his dad's Ashburton house, will be returned undamaged. The 27-year-old said the 1965 American muscle car was taken on Monday afternoon when the house was broken into. His father is overseas. He posted on Facebook offering an unspecified reward for help in finding his father's prized possession and has been overwhelmed by the response. By late morning today, more than 800 comments had been placed and the post had been shared more than 7000 times, including in Australia, which one commenter feared would be the distinctive car's destination. Sightings of it have been reported too, between Ashburton and Christchurch. Campey said he and his partner went to take the dog for a walk on Monday and noticed things were out of place. The gate was open, doors were unlocked and a window had been broken."I thought, yep, we've been robbed," Campey told Newstalk ZB."They've moved a lot of stuff around, drawers have been opened and eventually found the keys to the garage and taken off with the Mustang."I've had a lot of people message me saying they saw it going northbound towards Christchurch around the airport and Hornby around 4.30 [on Monday afternoon]."It's awesome. I can't say thank-you enough to everybody that has put forward their support." He said he was hopeful - but realistic - about the chances of the car being found."I would hate to see it burnt out or parted out [broken up for parts]. That's not what anybody wants to see for a beautiful car like that." Campey had phoned his father to explain the loss."He just took a few moments to clear his head. He took the phone away and I think he said a few swear words. He came back to it and he was pretty calm about it." The police said they had received a report on Monday evening about the car theft. The Ashburton property was visited, forensic and area inquiries were made, and the investigation was ongoing.

Two women agreed to fight over a man; one brought a knife. Tayla Annette Blewden (18) was enraged when she found out the fellow she believed was her boyfriend might be engaged to someone else. So she phoned the love rival and challenged her to a fight. December 11, 1.30pm, in Brockville Rd, Blewden and an associate waited at the gate of her home. The victim, with her handler, turned up at the appointed time. But it was not to be the fist fight she had anticipated.''Queensberry rules [laws of boxing] were not observed,'' Judge John Macdonald said. Blewden whipped out a knife she had taken from her kitchen and charged at her opponent.''In a sweeping motion she swiped the knife at the victim's upper body,'' court documents stated. The blade scratched the victim's neck, resulting in a superficial 6cm scrape. The victim lashed out at Blewden and there was brief verbal fracas before the parties went their separate ways. Blewden pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and appeared in Dunedin District Court this week. Judge Macdonald said it was unusual in a case of violence that the victim had essentially consented to the brawl. Prosecutor Sergeant Chris George stressed the ''massive potential for serious injury'' and the judge said he hoped the defendant appreciated it was simply good fortune the victim's wound was not more severe. The love triangle, he said, had prompted an understandably enraged response. But he questioned Blewden's choice of target.''I'm unsure why you took it out on this victim rather than your so-called boyfriend,'' Judge Macdonald said. A report before the court noted Blewden's propensity to act impulsively ''even irrationally'', but assessed her as a low risk of reoffending. Defence counsel Alex Bligh said her client's mental health had improved and she was currently flourishing on a hairdressing course. Blewden was sentenced to six months' supervision and five months' community detention. The judge refused to make a reparation order in favour of the victim, since she had been somewhat willing to participate in the scuffle.

When police raided Samuel Leigh Ebdell's home they were looking for evidence of blackmail. After analysing his computers they found what they were expecting, but also came across an unanticipated assortment of objectionable material, including a woman performing a sex act on a dog, the Dunedin District Court heard. The 18-year-old became the subject of police inquiries when a teenage girl complained he had threatened to post a video of them having sex online if she did not send explicit photos of herself. According to court documents, the pair, who met at a youth group, went to a local cemetery in the defendant's car to have sex some time last year. Afterwards, Ebdell bombarded the girl with messages on Facebook, instructing her to send nude images.''He repeatedly messaged her with the request until she finally began to delete the messages,'' a police summary stated. Ebdell pressed the matter on December 18 when he threatened to disclose the recording of their earlier liaison. When police spoke to him, he claimed someone must have created a duplicate Facebook account in his name. Less than a week after the blackmail attempt, police executed a search warrant at the teen's Dunedin home, during which his cellphone was seized. Forensic analysis turned up a dozen images featuring girls as young as 3. Many of the acts featured in the electronic files are too graphic to be described. One of the victims, whose abuse photos had been circulated online, was from the Netherlands and had been abused by a family friend between the ages of 8 and 13, court documents revealed. Another girl, known as ''Tara'', was the subject of an FBI investigation in 2006, which uncovered a worldwide child sex abuse ring. During the course of her four-year ordeal, which began at the age of 5, Tara was forced to engage in a horrific variety of sex acts, sometimes with a knife held to her throat. The FBI arrested her father in the state of Georgia in 2008 but 10 years later, the depraved photos were still being spread online. Judge John Macdonald yesterday said he had planned to sentence Ebdell, a first offender, to home detention. However, he was persuaded otherwise by defence counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner, who said such a punishment would effectively end her client's automotive studies. The judge said that would be a ''reasonable setback'' for someone so young and noted Ebdell was considered motivated to attend rehabilitative programmes. The teenager was sentenced to six months' community detention and 15 months' intensive supervision, the terms of which barred him from possessing internet-capable devices or associating with anyone under 16. Ebdell was also banned from driving for six months for doing ''donuts'' in a South Dunedin car park while on bail.

A Dunedin man who molested a 4-year-old girl after celebrating her birthday and called a 10-year-old his girlfriend has been jailed for nearly three years. Stuart Lindsay Edge, 48, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to four charges of indecent assault, encompassing offending against two girls. Both of the girls were known to the defendant and Crown prosecutor Marie Grills said the families of the victims were still stung by the ''broken trust''. One of the families was so devastated by Edge's actions they said they would not want any money from him if it was offered. Defence counsel Cate Andersen said her client was not in a position to compensate the victims, in any case. Edge first struck in 2015 when the 4-year-old visited his house where they shared a cake to celebrate her birthday. During her stay she was joined on the couch by the defendant, who slid under a blanket as she was watching cartoons. Court documents said Edge groped the victim with a ''stroking-tapping motion''. He touched her on top of her clothes on her rear during the same incident, the court heard. Nearly two years later, the defendant hosted a 10-year-old girl at his Dunedin home. During her time at the address, Edge kissed her ''on numerous occasions''.''He gave her sloppy kisses on the lips and told her that he was her boyfriend,'' a summary of facts said. On other occasions, the man kissed her on the forehead, face and hand. Later that week, while the victim was getting breakfast, Edge grabbed her hand and forced it down his pants. The girl pulled away but the defendant responded by kissing her. Grills said one of the girls had received counselling but her family was anxious for her to get more, which had not yet been organised through ACC. Edge was jailed by Judge John Macdonald for two years nine months. He had previously been given a first-strike warning under the three-strikes legislation.

The level of disdain an alleged murderer had for his partner was so strong that he continued his rouse by letting his daughter text her mother - despite her being trapped, dead in a vehicle in the bottom of a lake, the Crown said. Crown prosecutor Ross Douch this morning delivered his closing submissions in the High Court at Hamilton murder trial of Cory Jefferies who is alleged to have killed Kim Richmond during the early hours of July 31 2016. Jefferies does admit causing her death but says it was unintentional. An attack took place in their Ford Ranger vehicle as they headed home after a function at the rural South Waikato Arohena Hall sometime from 3.38am onwards. Jefferies cellphone data then showed him travelling to Lake Arapuni - in the Ranger - where both Richmond and the vehicle are dumped. The car, with Richmond in it, were both eventually found 11 months by later. Through his lawyer Tom Sutcliffe, Jefferies admits killing his partner but says there was no murderous intent and he is guilty of manslaughter instead. In his closings, Douch today told the jury of five men and seven women that the fact Jefferies had left Richmond "to rot" in the back of the vehicle for 11 months showed the level of "disdain" he had for her."It's contemptuous to leave that woman exposed like that to rot in the utility." Kim Richmond and Cory Jefferies. As for the threats, a one-off threat could be forgotten. However, repeated threats to various people showed it was having an effect on his state of mind. "It shows he is preoccupied with the issue and he would like her dead … the defendant said to Mrs Te Brake that he wanted to f***** kill the b**** and what, by his own admission do? He f****** killed the b****." Douch also urged the jury to remember the lengths Jefferies went to hide what he'd done for 11 months by lying to the faces of his family including his own children."How many times do you think they asked 'Dad, when is Mum coming home?', 'Dad, where has Mum gone?'… every time it comes up this man reflects to carry on this outrageous perception on his children. "He allows his daughter … on the first day to get on the phone and text a dead person. Her mother. That's what he was driven to by what he'd done."Here's a man whose relationship was crumbling around him and he was failing to save it." MURDER OR MANSLAUGHTER Douch said the case was about murderous intent and Jefferies' state of mind at the time. Douch explained that intent stretched across the spectrum from a well thought out execution to an almost instantaneous killing where the offender knows death is likely but carries on with the act anyway."What looking at there is that you have a position where the killer reaches a state where the level of animosity or anger to the victim reaches the point where he wants to do them harm and acts upon it but in doing that he realises that level of harm can be fatal and does it anyway." He also urged the jury to put aside any thoughts that what happened between the pair was an affair. He explained there was no evidence of an "affair" as affairs were usually consummated with a sexual relationship."This relationship on the evidence is not worthy of the description of an affair … this is a dalliance between the pair." Defence counsel Tom Sutcliffe will deliver his closings after the morning adjournment. KIM RICHMOND FOUND Kim Richmond was found in a partial foetal position with a portion of her clothes wrapped tightly around the back of her neck with a plastic bag wrapped around her head on the back seat of her Ford Ranger.Detective Constable James Walker testified how she was facing backwards."Most distinctively her chest and stomach area appeared to be free of clothing." There appeared to be an empty plastic shopping bag like one from a supermarket over Richmond's head and torso. The detective also saw tufts of hair and skin about 200mm higher up on the seat. Dr Rexson Tse testified that due to Richmond's body being submerged in water for so long he was unable to identify any obvious external or internal injuries or any fractures or bone breaks. Her cause of death was "undetermined" and he couldn't find any signs of violence. The couple had spent the night with about 40 other local residents enjoying a pot luck dinner and drinks while watching the Chiefs and Highlanders semifinal match at the Arohena Hall. They left the hall about 3.38am and some time on the five to seven minute drive home an argument has begun and an attack has taken place in the truck. The Crown alleges it occurred about 130m from their driveway of their Mangare Rd home. THE CELLPHONES GPS from Jefferies' cellphone tracked the vehicle heading to Lake Arapuni at 3.48am. The signal is eventually lost as there is no reception at the boat ramp. However, at 4.17am, his phone has again begun tracking his movements back to the family home, at a slower walking pace, eventually arriving about 6.30am. After arriving home Richmond's phone also began moving again out on to their farm. Its last signal was sent at 8.14am. The phone was never recovered.

A recidivist drink-driver with 15 convictions has been jailed for two years and told by a judge he can only apply for home detention if he lives in a rehabilitation facility. Leonard James Emery, 58, appeared in the Rotorua District Court yesterday for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to charges of drink-driving third or subsequent and disqualified driving. He now has 15 convictions for drink-driving starting in 1977, and has been disqualified from driving indefinitely. Judge Phillip Cooper said several of Emery's previous drink-driving convictions had high readings, including one when he was found with a breath alcohol level of 2039 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 250mcg. In the latest case, Emery was found more than four times over the legal limit when stopped by police doing a routine check on Lake Rd on April 11 about 9pm. He had a reading of 1189mcg and admitted to police he was "stupid". Emery was indefinitely disqualified from driving in October 2011. He now has nine previous convictions for driving while disqualified, suspended or revoked. When Emery pleaded guilty in May, Judge Cooper described his life as a "train wreck" and wanted to find alternative methods of sentencing him. He called for a cultural report to be done under Section 27 of the Crimes Act. The court heard yesterday Emery had a long history of alcoholism and grew up in a "party house" where alcohol was frequently present. Judge Cooper said he noted Emery had tried to give up alcohol at a residential rehabilitation facility before but it had not worked. Judge Cooper said there had been just three convictions in the past 10 years with the last being five years ago in 2013 - which he said he took into account when considering Emery's overall extensive drink-driving history. A prison sentence would allow him time away from the temptation of alcohol but would also give the public safety for a period, Judge Cooper said. He said although Emery was eligible for home detention, he would only grant him leave to apply for it if the address was at a residential rehabilitation facility. Upon release from prison, Emery will be subject to six months of prison release conditions to allow him to complete appropriate alcohol programmes and counselling as directed by his parole officer. The sentence also includes a 12-month period of disqualification from driving, however he was already disqualified indefinitely. Emery was not the first to clock up a large number of drink-driving convictions. Tauranga man Phillip Noble pleaded guilty to his 20th drink-driving charge and ninth charge of driving while disqualified last month. Gregory Mulligan was convicted of a fifth drink-driving charge in the Whanganui District Court yesterday. Drivers convicted in the past 10 years:2008: 1470 2009: 1620 2010: 1308 2011: 1256 2012: 1062 2013: 898 2014: 747 2015: 776 2016: 792 2017: 822 Source: Ministry of Justice

More arrests have been made following the McLaren Falls homicide. Police confirmed this afternoon another three people have been charged in relation to the death of Ngaruawahia man Mitchell Paterson. Paterson's body was found at McLaren Falls near Tauranga on July 13th. Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley, district manager criminal investigations in Waikato said the Operation Conga was still investigating the circumstances into Mitchell's death despite the arrests. Three men, aged 33, 34 and 49, have been charged with being party to manslaughter. The 33-year-old and 49-year-old are due to appear in Hamilton District Court today. The 34-year-old appeared yesterday and is due to next appear on August 7. A 36-year-old man is already before the court on charges of murder and kidnapping as well as a 27-year-old man who is charged with being an accessory after the fact. Police would like to thank the community for their assistance and encourage anyone with further information can contact Hamilton police on (07) 856 6200.

The man who stabbed broadcaster Barry Soper's son has been sentenced to four months home detention, and 200 hours of community work. Jon Gary Edwards, 38, had earlier pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to injure, after he stabbed then-23-year-old Henry Soper on a night out in Wellington. Soper had been out with friends on the night of the attack in July last year, having recently returned to Wellington from Melbourne. According to the agreed summary of facts, Soper had been playing a slot machine, when Edwards approached him and they had a short verbal argument about the use of the slot machine. Edwards then went outside to wait for Soper. When Soper went to the reception area later to collect some winnings, Edwards approached him and asked him to come outside. When Soper told him to leave, Edwards lunged at him with a 30cm serrated hunting knife, that had been hidden in his jacket. It went through Soper's forearm to such depths that it came out the other side. Soper's father, NewstalkZB political editor Barry Soper, was present for the sentencing at Wellington District Court today. During sentencing Judge Peter Hobbs repeatedly stressed that he was legally bound to take into account the eight months served in jail on remand, and four months on electronically monitored bail, while Edwards was waiting to be sentenced. "I have read the victim impact statement, and it is clear that the victim continues to suffer physically from your actions. "It is not yet certain whether he will fully recover. It is possible that he will continue to suffer some disability from your actions." Judge Hobbs noted Henry Soper had also suffered had financial and emotional impacts, which he said were not surprising. "There was an element of premeditation on your behalf. "You took with you into a city precinct a 30cm hunting knife. You waited for the victim outside. "The use of a hunting knife is serious, it is potentially a lethal weapon. It is also worth noting that at the time you were on a community work sentence." Judge Hobbs admitted the sentence for four months of home detention would not appear to be enough, if looked at in isolation. "A deterrent sentence is required, people cannot carry knives in public and use them to inflict injuries such as this. "However you have already effectively served a 16 month sentence of imprisonment, on remand following your arrest. "Had you not already spent 16 months effectively in prison, plus four months home detention, I would be sentencing you to prison. But because you have successfully completed that I will sentence you to four months home detention." Edwards was sentenced to four months of home detention on 24 hour curfew. He will also pay reparations of $3000, and serve 200 hours of community work.

A jury has begun its deliberations over whether a Waikato man had murderous intent when he killed his partner in a drunken rage on their way home from a party. Cory Jefferies admits killing his partner of 26 years Kim Louise Richmond, 42, but he denies that it was intentional. In homage to their loved one, Richmond's family and friends either wore or held a red rose - her favourite flower - as they sat in the public gallery. In her hour-long summing up in the High Court at Hamilton today, Justice Sally Fitzgerald told the court the onus of proof fell on the Crown who had to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. She told the jury a reasonable doubt would leave them with an honest and reasonable certainty left in their minds after giving consideration to all of the evidence. She also reminded them not to feelings of sympathy or prejudice influence their decision. "Your job is to base your decision solely on the evidence you have heard dispassionately and fairly." She said submissions made by both counsel in their closings yesterday was not evidence but "commentary". The evidence was also not the questions that they asked, rather the answers the witnesses gave. As for the witness testimony, she told the jury not to throw away their "fact finding tool kit" which included not only common sense but also the ability to sift through what was said. They could do that by assessing any inconsistencies or contradictions and whether what they said was plausible. "Did it have a ring of truth about it … did it stack up?" As for Jefferies' 11 month-long lie about her death, the jury had to give as much weight to the defence's submissions of the actions of a "desperate man" as to that put by the Crown, that it was the actions of a murderer. The Crown did not have to prove a motive but had submitted that the couple's relationship became so strained that Jefferies became "extremely angry" after a build up of ill-will and carried out the attack on her as he didn't get what he wanted. Raywynne and Matt Richmond pictured outside the High Court at Hamilton today after the jury retired to consider their verdict in the Kim Richmond murder trial. Photo / Alan Gibson However, the key aspect the jury had to decide was whether Jefferies had murderous intent at the time, that he meant to kill that person and "consciously running the risk that the person could die as a result". She also went over the evidence including the Crown's submission about how Richmond's body was found with the front of her bra unclasped and her singlet and rugby jersey pulled up over the back of her neck, exposing her torso. The Crown said there was an element of "considerable malice", she said. The defence submitted her death was a spontaneous event and nowhere in the evidence was there trouble brewing the night she died. The jury were sent out to begin their deliberations at 10.40am. Meanwhile yesterday in his closing submissions Crown prosecutor Ross Douch said the level of disdain an alleged murderer had for his partner was so strong that he continued his ruse by letting his daughter text her mother - despite her being trapped, dead in a vehicle in the bottom of a lake. "It's contemptuous to leave that woman exposed like that to rot in the utility." As for the threats, a one-off threat could be forgotten. However, repeated threats to various people showed it was having an effect on his state of mind. Douch also urged the jury to remember the lengths Jefferies, 46, went to hide what he'd done for 11 months by lying to the faces of his family including his own children. "He allows his daughter … on the first day to get on the phone and text a dead person. Her mother. That's what he was driven to by what he'd done." Defence counsel Tom Sutcliffe told the jury they had to make their decision without sympathy or prejudice. "The evidence clearly shows that Kim's death … was a spontaneous, unscripted event. How else could it be explained?" Sutcliffe said the fact there were no broken or fractured bones showed how little intention there was in killing her. "The fact he caused Kim's death … does not mean that he intended to cause her death." He said covering up what he did for 11 months was the "self-preservation" of a "desperate man" who simply panicked. The defence did not call any witnesses. Jefferies also elected not to give evidence.

Police are appealing for information after the aggravated robbery of the Royal Heights PostShop in Massey in West Auckland yesterday morning. Just after 9.30am, a person entered the shop on Royal Road and pointed a pistol at the woman working there, before running off with an amount of cash. Several good samaritans gave chase and followed the suspect down a service lane between the Countdown and Mobil station and out onto Moire Road. One of the good samaritans recovered an amount of cash dropped by the offender and returned the money to the PostShop before police arrived. Police would like the person to come forward so they can thank him for his assistance and obtain further details about the robbery. The offender has been described as Maori or Polynesian, medium to solid build, 6 foot tall [182cm] with a distinctive 5cm dark black birthmark or mole on their left cheekbone. The suspect was wearing a grey hooded jacket, dark coloured shorts and black shoes.

An 87-year-old man is recovering at home from injuries he received after being subjected to an aggravated robbery yesterday afternoon at Countdown supermarket in Hastings. He was approached in the supermarket car park by a number of people who forced him into the back seat of his own car (pictured above). He was driven around Hastings where they withdrew money from his account at several locations. Police are looking for a man and a woman, reported to be driving a faded-black car. The woman is described as Maori, approximately 50-years-old with straight, black, shoulder-length hair. The male is described as a young man. Police described the daylight attack as "brazen and cowardly" and are appealing for further information. They would like to speak to anyone who knows anything about the attack, or who saw the elderly victim's car in the area between 3.55pm and 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon. Anyone who may be able to help should call Detective Sarah Williams on 06 873 0561 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A jury has found Waikato man Cory Jefferies guilty of the murder of his partner Kim Richmond. The jury of five men and seven woman in the High Court At Hamilton decided he did have murderous intent when he attacked his partner of 26 years on their way home from a party at the Arohena Hall in South Waikato on July 31, 2016. The Crown had earlier told the jury the case came down to murderous intent and Jefferies' state of mind at the time. Crown prosecutor Ross Douch explained that intent stretched across the spectrum from a well thought out execution to an almost instantaneous killing where the offender knows death is likely but carries on with the act anyway. "What you're looking at there is that you have a position where the killer reaches a state where the level of animosity or anger to the victim reaches the point where he wants to do them harm and acts upon it but in doing that he realises that level of harm can be fatal and does it anyway." Kim Richmond, above. (Photo: NZ Police) He also urged the jury to put aside any thoughts that what happened between Richmond and her neighbour was an affair. Jefferies had always admitted killing Richmond but said it was unintentional. Defence counsel Tom Sutcliffe said his actions in disposing her body in Lake Arapuni were that of a desperate man. However, the post-mortem examination had not revealed any broken bones which he submitted show how little intent there was in trying to kill her. "The evidence clearly shows that Kim's death … was a spontaneous, unscripted event. How else could it be explained?" The jury spent six hours deliberating on Friday. They were sent out just after 10am today before returning with their verdicts at 10.30am.

Media coverage of Teina Pora's wrongful conviction and imprisonment for the murder of Susan Burdett, including a telemovie last Sunday, has potentially contaminated a third trial for Malcolm Rewa, says his lawyer. Rewa, a serial rapist who was sentenced to preventative detention for raping Burdett and 24 other women, has again been charged with the Auckland woman's murder. A third trial has been scheduled for next year, however, today in the High Court at Auckland, Rewa's lawyer Paul Chambers argued too much time has passed and "the prejudicial qualities" of past media publications will prevent a fair trial for his client. Pora may also be called as a witness for the February trial, the court heard. Chambers is asking Justice Geoffrey Venning, the Chief High Court Judge, to dismiss the charge and apply a permanent stay of proceedings. "There is sufficient prejudice, sufficient hostility, sufficient time to make a fair trial impossible for the defendant," Chambers argued. "It is vastly in favour of the trial not going ahead." Calvin Tuteao played Malcolm Rewa in the telemovie In Dark Places. Photo / Supplied Chambers said a dramatised 90-minute television film about Pora's case, In Dark Places, played on TVNZ 1 last Sunday, adds to the prejudicial publicity of the well-known case. "It's in the back of their minds, whether consciously and subconsciously," he said of a potential jury pool. "It's in the tone of the [media] commentary, it's in the tone of the movie." Chambers said there was a perception in the public of comparing Pora to Rewa, which has been expressed openly in the media and film. Rewa maintains he is not the murderer. In Dark Places has been entered as evidence in the proceedings, with Justice Venning having seen the film along with more than 240,000 other people, according to South Pacific Pictures. The film, Chambers told the court, depicts Rewa hiding in a closet before Burdett's murder. A similar rape is foreshadowed later in the movie. "Nothing is portrayed for balance," Chambers said. "With the release of the film, Mr Rewa cannot get a fair trial." Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes said "publicity alone is certainly not going to win the day for [Rewa]". The film, Kayes said, carried an artistic licence and focused on Pora rather than Rewa. He added the movie will be taken down from TVNZ's online platform in 10 days' time - six months before the trial. Police have yet to talk to all the potential Crown witnesses, but have spoken to some of the "key witnesses", Kayes said. Kayes said, however, the Crown had "strong, compelling evidence that the accused is guilty". He said there was no specific prejudice caused from the passing of time since the killing. Susan Burdett, pictured in 1989. Photo / File Burdett was raped and bludgeoned to death in her Papatoetoe home in 1992. Pora was twice wrongly convicted for the crime and spent 22 years in prison before the Privy Council quashed his conviction in 2015. He has since received an apology from the Government and $3.5 million compensation. A stay of proceedings for a murder prosecution against Rewa had previously been applied by the Solicitor-General in 1998. But last year the Deputy Solicitor-General, Brendan Horsley, on behalf of the Attorney-General, reversed the 1998 stay. Teina Pora was wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of Susan Burdett. Photo / Nick Reed In May, Justice Venning declined an application by Chambers for a judicial review of the decision to lift the stay. "The reversal-of-stay document sets out the grounds for the decision, namely that given the quashing of Mr Pora's convictions no one has been held accountable for a murder, and the evidential sufficiency supporting the murder charge against Mr Rewa," he said in his decision. "There is no evidence before the court of any bad faith on the part of the Attorney-General in relation to the decision to lift the stay. The fact the effect of lifting the stay is that Mr Rewa will face a third trial is not, of itself, sufficient to provide justification for the court to review the Attorney-General's decision. Third trials, although rare, have been held in certain cases." A stay had never before been lifted in New Zealand's legal history. Rewa was also denied parole in May - his first hearing before the Parole Board. The written decision will not be publicly released. Rewa's next parole hearing will be in April 2020.

Gangs or associates of gangs are new suspects in the historic Mona Blades case following startling new revelations in a television documentary. The Cold Case documentary, which screened on television last night has found the police investigation into the 1975 disappearance of Blades could have gone down the wrong track. The documentary follows a small team of police who take another look at the famous unsolved disappearance of Blades, who vanished while hitch-hiking from Hamilton to Hastings at Queen's Birthday weekend 43 years ago. Detective Inspector Mark Loper from Rotorua led the team of police which found officers working on the case possibly put too much weight on a truck driver's evidence that he saw Blades get into an orange Datsun on the Napier-Taupo Rd with a man. Her disappearance sparked one of the country's largest manhunts with more than 500 suspects who either owned or had driven orange Datsuns investigated. However, not one piece of evidence or her body was ever found. Her disappearance sparked one of the country's largest manhunts with more than 500 suspects who either owned or had driven orange Datsuns investigated. Photo/File The documentary revealed the truck driver's evidence changed slightly each time he was interviewed by police, meaning he was possibly influenced by what he had heard and read of the case. That meant the inquiry team possibly didn't put enough weight on other apparent sightings of Blades in the Taupo area, particularly from those who said they saw her drinking at the Spa Hotel in Taupo with another young woman. Loper said in the documentary he now did not think Blades left Taupo alive. The documentary revealed the public's perception of Blades was different to reality. Blades' family had provided police with photographs of her, which in hindsight weren't a true reflection of how she looked now. The documentary revealed the photographs were from when Blades was a bridesmaid and her hair was long and curled when in fact when she went missing her hair was shorter in a mullet-style haircut. It was said one of the witnesses who had earlier given Blades a lift initially thought Blades was a young man because of her haircut. Detectives on the Cold Case documentary said they discovered Blades had some affiliations with bike gangs in Auckland and Hamilton and it was possible that those gangs were on the road travelling to Wellington for a gathering over that long weekend. The documentary revealed there were also sightings of a red Toyota station wagon that could have been travelling with a bike gang that corroborated with another witness who saw two people carrying a rolled up piece of carpet into the back of a red Toyota station wagon in Taupo. Stewart Guy, a former police officer who worked on the case, was brought into Cold Case's new investigation team to offer some insight into the direction of the investigation at the time. Guy said in the documentary police were trained at the time to ask for detail from witnesses, which meant interrupting them during their statements to ask questions. New techniques used by police today discourage officers from interrupting potential witnesses as research had shown it potentially impacted their memories. It was made clear in the documentary that the truck driver wasn't suspected of deliberately making false statements. Given the new information, the documentary called on members of the public to call police if they had any memories of the event which they might have thought was not significant at the time. Loper told the Rotorua Daily Post today the police would be collating feedback from the public since Sunday night's screening. He said the police were not prepared to name any particular gang or associates from Auckland or Hamilton who were now being looked at. "I think the most important thing is we are keeping an open mind. We explored a number of areas during the inquiry. We are not going to release name of any particular group but it might well be we look at associates of a group and not those involved in a group themselves." Three other mysteries will feature in the Cold Case series on TV One. The next is this Sunday at 8.30pm on the disappearance of Do Trieu from 2008. This will be followed by the cases of Kayo Matsuzawa from 1998 and Tuitania Barclay from 2002.

A Dunedin rally driver allegedly peered into the windows of two student flats on the same street within three weeks. Bruce Donald Saxton, 54 – whose occupation in court documents is listed as machinist - is on trial before the Dunedin District Court facing two charges of burglary. Student Jasmine Kamboj said she had just come out of the shower when she heard someone's footsteps outside her room on January 29. She opened the curtains and was confronted with a man holding onto her window sill. Ms Kamboj said she asked the man who he was and what he was doing, but he did not respond. "He kind of just stared for a bit and then walked off quite normally," she said. Police prosecutor Tim Hambleton asked where the man was staring. "Right at me," Ms Kamboj said. She described the peeper as "quite chubby", with stubble, a receding hairline and "intense dark eye bags". "The face is quite etched in my memory," she said. Though when police showed her a photo montage three weeks later she was initially unable to pick out Saxton. When shown in different lighting tones, however, she fingered the defendant. Ms Kamboj said a similar incident had occurred only days earlier but she had not seen the intruder on that occasion. The second incident took place on February 18 at another student flat in the same street - Ethel Benjamin Pl. Resident Michelle Asher said she was out on her third-floor balcony and noticed a man below. When she returned 10 minutes later, the man was still there, she told the court. "He was hanging around near the bedroom window," Ms Asher said. When she saw the flash of a camera go off twice, she called her partner out and they called police shortly afterwards, the court heard. "He was there until police came then he ran through the bushes," Ms Asher said. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Anne Stevens, she admitted she could not see the man's face. She described him as Caucasian and wearing dark clothes. The trial, before Judge Thomas Ingram without a jury, will conclude this afternoon.

A homicide inquiry has been launched after a 41-year-old man was found stabbed in Greymouth early today. The victim, who was found on Cowper St, was taken to nearby Grey Base Hospital about 2am but died shortly afterwards. A 17-year-old youth, described by police as "a person of interest," was this morning assisting police with their inquiries - although as yet no charges have been laid. Area commander Inspector Mel Aitken said the police investigation was in hand following the fatal stabbing. "A 17-year-old man is assisting police with inquiries into the death. I am confident there is no risk to our community as a result of swift actions of our staff and assistance from the public," Mrs Aitken said shortly before midday. However, police were calling for public sightings of a late 1990s red Toyota Corolla car seen in Greymouth early today. "Police are also keen to speak to anybody that may have witnessed a male dressed in dark clothing walking on Sids Road, near Coal Creek (just east of Greymouth)," Mrs Aitken said. Two guarded police cordons were in place this morning: one where the victim was found in Cowper St, and the other 1.5km away in Lord St. Mrs Aitken confirmed the cordoned area at the car park bordering the railway at the intersection of Lord and Tainui Sts - outside the Development West Coast offices - was connected to the homicide, but she did not elaborate. A canopy was erected over a small area, but it was unclear what it was protecting. Cowper St was closed in the block between Raleigh and Franklin Sts. A large enclosed tent has been erected over the site where the man was found, with an item which looked like a jacket lying on the roadway. A resident told the Greymouth Star they were disturbed and woken in the early hours, and looked out to the street to see someone lying on the road. "It was just a body lying in the road and we rang 111." Another nearby resident said they had no idea of the tragic turn of events until awakening this morning to read a media report of the incident. As yet they knew nothing more and there had been no contact from the police informing them what had happened, they said. West Coast police area investigations manager senior sergeant Jacqui Corner said next of kin were being notified this morning and further information about the victim would not be released until everyone had been informed. Anybody with information is encouraged to contact Greymouth Police on 768 1600 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Police have named the Greymouth man who was fatally stabbed early this morning as Cyrus Alexis Alupis. A 17-year-old man was charged with Alupis' murder in the Greymouth District Court this afternoon and will remain in custody until Tuesday, August 21. The 41-year-old local man was found with critical injuries on Cowper St around 2am and died shortly after at Grey Base Hospital. "Police continue to appeal for sightings of a late 1990s red Toyota Corolla in Greymouth in the early hours of Monday morning," West Coast area commander Inspector Mel Aitken said. "Also, anyone who witnessed a male dressed in dark clothing walking on Sids Rd, near Coal Creek," Aitken said. Anyone with information should contact Greymouth Police on 03 768 1600 or information can be shared anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The man found guilty of murdering road worker George Taiaroa near Rotorua five years ago has lost his appeal against his conviction and sentence. Taiaroa, 65, was shot dead as he operated a stop-go sign at roadworks on Tram Rd, Atiamuri, in 2013. The two men had a minor incident a week earlier. Quinton Winders took his case to the Court of Appeal in March, arguing certain parts of evidence shouldn't have been used in the High Court jury trial. His lawyer Philip Morgan QC said evidence that Winders had a propensity to overreact to "innocuous" events by shooting at or near people, should not have been heard in the High Court. But in a just-released decision from the Court of Appeal, that argument has been dismissed. The decision noted there were three witnesses to the previous behaviour, who between them gave evidence about four separate incidents of shooting at or near people. The Court said a pre-trial ruling allowed the evidence, and the evidence given in trial was consistent with what had been expected. Morgan had also argued statements from Winders following his April 2013 arrest shouldn't have been used, because his detention at the time was unlawful. But the Court of Appeal noted that during the police interview, Winders didn't seem reluctant to speak to police, and confirmed "on a number of occasions" that he was happy to help with their inquiries. In the appeal against his sentence, Morgan questions the High Court's findings that the murder involved calculated planning by Winders. The Court of Appeal upheld that part of the High Court decision as well, ruling that the planning "need not be competent or significant, but must be present to a heightened degree"."The planning included Winders determining where Mr Taiaroa would be working that day," the decision said."After collecting his vehicle from the panel beater at 9.30am, Mr Winders returned home to collect his rifle before driving over 200km from Stratford via Taumarunui to Atiamuri to carry out the murder at approximately 3.15pm."The means of carrying out the murder at that location were carefully planned as was the intended escape route and the various means by which Mr Winders would minimise the risk of detection." The appeals against conviction and sentence were all dismissed. Winders was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years in December 2016, after a jury found him guilty of killing Taiaroa.

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Partner unaware if Kim Richmond wearing Fitbit on day she went missing

Burglars steal 'beautiful' classic car

Girl fight over a man turns nasty when a knife comes out

Blackmail search leads to child porn find on teen's phone

Dunedin man jailed for molesting girl on her birthday

Accused's 'disdain' - left partner to 'rot' in vehicle

Rotorua man jailed for two years for 15th drink-driving conviction

More arrests after McLaren Falls homicide

Man who stabbed Barry Soper's son sentenced

Kim Richmond murder trial: Jury begins deliberations

Police appeal for information following aggravated robbery of West Auckland post shop

87yo man kidnapped, robbed, in 'cowardly' Hastings attack

Cory Jefferies guilty of Kim Richmond's murder

Rewa lawyer argues: Pora telemovie jeopardises third trial

Documentary reveals new details of Mona Blades cold case

Dunedin rally driver Bruce Saxton accused of peeping into student flats

Homicide inquiry after stabbed man dies in Greymouth

Police release the name of the Greymouth man fatally stabbed this morning

Stop-go killer Quinton Winders loses appeal against conviction for killing George Taiaroa