Hamish McNeilly

People have been urged not to experiment with the mind-altering plant datura, which police say is a ''shocking drug''.

The van used in an attempted abduction at the weekend had been spotted in South Dunedin and the city's business district, police say.

Claims of standover tactics and gang members being employed to intimidate rivals have emerged in the Dunedin bar scene.

It was all aboard at the Dunedin Railway Station on Saturday, when a rail exhibition rolled into the city.

The Nude Blacks emerged with their pride intact following a hair-raising encounter against a spirited invitational Australian outfit in Dunedin this afternoon.

Dunedin retailers have been targeted by teens stealing clothes ordered via social networking sites.

A confidential report following the financial collapse of the Otago Rugby Football Union is likely to remain confidential.

Michael Swann allegedly paid $160,000 for a Rolls Royce found stashed in a container, but following its discovery told detectives ''it wasn't anything to do with me'', court documents show.

Did you hear the news about the fragile American high school pupil who took a gun into his school? Probably, but not like this.

New safety features for cyclists have been installed at an intersection where a cyclist was killed.

Parents are using a highly toxic nerve gas agent to treat head lice in children as young as 18 months.

Authorities are warning of a ''worrying increase'' in unregistered motor vehicle traders after a Dunedin man was fined $4500 yesterday.

A homicide inquiry has been launched for a Central Otago man missing for almost a year.

No cuts or marks were noted on Robin Bain's hands following his death because there were no cuts or marks, the Dunedin pathologist who examined his body says.

A former Dunedin family's investigation has led to an Australian coroner overturning a police ruling that Nadine Haag's death was a suicide.

A luxury car concealed in a container has been seized, but Dunedin police say it is too early to confirm it belongs to convicted fraudster Michael Swann.

The National Poisons Centre's Dunedin-based call centre recorded its highest number of calls concerning synthetic cannabis last month.