South African families find a better life in New Zealand

In early October, two burglars stabbed former All Black coach John Mitchell in his Johannesburg home. It helped Kiwis understand the issues forcing South African families to leave their home country and seek a safer life. Leigh Stockton talks to South Africans who have left behind friends and extended family, moving to New Zealand to [...]

Police do nothing about break-ins

A spate of car break-ins in a quite Mount Wellington street has residents wondering when action will be taken.
Over the past month, there have been numerous car windows smashed, with items taken from cars.
However, the police refuse to answer callouts unless there is blood on the windows. They will not even come out to find [...]

More to your cab driver than meets the eye

Hiren Mohini would have given little thought to the man he picked up from SkyCity on January 31.
Steering through the traffic lights Mohini had navigated his passenger closer to Mount Eden.
As the communications radio crackled, Mohini either relied on the GPS gadget, or his memory – crafted since the day he immigrated.
Zhen Xiao probably gave [...]

Study uncovers new motivations for couple-related homicides

Found in a house with 70 stab wounds to his body, the man had been subjected to a violent attack with a cut-throat razor and a knife. His partner screamed as her face and hair were smeared with his blood. She was kidnapped from the home while his ravaged body was left alone. His last [...]

REVIEW: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest

For those of you who are keen on thrillers and are not yet acquainted with Lisbeth Salander, it may well be worth doing so. She is the tattooed, sociopathic, unlikely heroine of the Steig Larsson novels.

In this the final chapter of the Millennium trilogy, Salander is being forcibly detained in hospital awaiting trial for three [...]

Girls no more than 12 working city’s ‘young red light area’

A spike in underage prostitution in Auckland’s CBD is concerning police and outreach workers who say girls as young as 12 and 13 are being picked up off the streets from what is known as “the young red light area”.
Senior Constable Mark Riddell, a member of the Auckland central police Youth Action Team, says a [...]

Act’s three-strikes law the ‘most ridiculous’ NZ has passed

The new three-strikes law is “the most ridiculous law passed by a New Zealand parliament”, according to one of New Zealand’s leading criminologists.
Under the law a third conviction would mean the offender received the maximum sentence for that crime – with no possibility of parole – unless this was judged to be “manifestly unjust”.
The law [...]

Marijuana magazine could be banned despite lack of complaints

A pro-marijuana magazine has been put under the microscope by the authorities, raising questions about whether censorship is a violation of freedom of speech.
The editor of NORML News magazine, Chris Fowlie, says despite a lack of complaints the Department of Internal Affairs has submitted three issues of the magazine to the Office of Film and [...]

Election cycle barrier to youth reforms

Holding government elections every three years is partly to blame for the lack of effective long-term solutions to youth crime, according to those working directly with young people.
They say the cycle is simply too short for any long-term policy directions to be undertaken.
In February the Government announced a raft of ‘Fresh Start’ youth justice reforms, [...]

Crime in South Auckland prompts clean up in Conifer Grove

A rise in South Auckland crime in the last few months has resulted in some neighbourhoods taking action.
Conifer Grove, a small neighbourhood in Takanini, was once a reasonably unaffected area.
However, residents in the area have witnessed a rise in petty crime since the beginning of the year.
Long time resident Michelle Lowe says around three months ago four houses were burgled in [...]