Court

Police have arrested a 16-year-old after a samurai sword attack nearly severed a man's hand outside a Palmerston North party.

A man was today charged with the murder of a 48-year-old woman whose body was found in the Auckland suburb of Western Springs two weeks ago.

Auckland Unitec student Bio O'Brien, accused of the manslaughter of an elderly man after an alleged road rage incident has been remanded in custody for a pre-deposition hearing in July.

Ross Simon Fraser has admitted beating his partner Joanne Thompson to death in their home at Waiau, with a surprise guilty plea in Rangiora District Court today.

Tijay Witoko told friends he stabbed Hemi Hohepa but they didn't believe him, a High Court jury has been told.

In the last month of Hemi Hohepa's life, members of two different gangs hunted him after "dodgy" methamphetamine deals went wrong, a High Court jury was told in Rotorua yesterday.

Court security will receive a boost on budget day.

The theft of medals from a visiting Australian Vietnam War veteran has led to two people appearing at the Christchurch District Court.

A student who has admitted stabbing his teacher at a West Auckland secondary school has been remanded for two weeks until his next appearance on May 28.

The parents of a seven-week-old girl who suffered broken bones after being dropped were convicted yesterday of charges in connection with the time it took them to take their daughter to hospital.