Court

The Crown is seeking preventive detention for a sex offender who has already served a life sentence for murdering his wife.

It is disappointing to have to spend time chasing up errant potential jurors but a general habit of non-attendance after the first day cannot be risked, a Dunedin District Court staff member says.

A Northland man was today jailed for 9-1/2 years for killing his 15-month-old stepson.

A woman accused of killing her 13-month old son by drowning him in the bath had become withdrawn and hardly spoke for the three months before the baby's death, a friend told a court today.

For a former Bay of Plenty woman, the discovery a friend had sexually violated and raped her in tandem with her husband while she was stupefied was the ultimate betrayal.

 A man shot by police after allegedly presenting an airgun at them last month says he thought he was playing a joke on his brother.