Two a penny

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Bray murder verdict expected tonight

The Timaru Herald Tuesday, 09 December 2008

The jury has signalled it will return verdicts this evening in the trial of six Timaru men charged with the murder of Wayne Kerry Bray in a street attack on February 2.
Trial judge Justice Mark Cooper delivered most of his summing up yesterday but completed it after a 9.
The six on trial are John Oliver Jamieson, 20, a fisherman, Morgan Christopher James Parker, 17, a freezing worker, Simon Antony Anglem, 17, a labourer, Ashley Jordan Moffat, 17, a butcher, Nicholas John Peters, 17, a freezing worker, and Daniel Raymond Kreegher, 19, a boner.30am start today, the 24th day of the trial.
Bray was punched, kicked and stomped. .
The Crown called evidence from 92 witnesses in the trial, which began on November 3 in the High Court at Christchurch.
None of the six accused gave or called evidence in their own defence, with their counsel arguing in closing addresses that the Crown had not proved its case against them.

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Destiny denies plans for ‘walled city’

Thursday, 30 October 2008

Destiny Church is calling on members to help build a big complex in South Auckland but denies it plans to create a self-sufficient "walled city".
News of the shift follows claims that Destiny asked members last Sunday to sell their homes and donate the proceeds to the complex, which would include a new church, three schools and a medical centre.
The head of the church, the self-styled Bishop Brian Tamaki, told members attending "A Decade of Destiny" conference during Labour weekend that the complex would give the church a big presence in the centre of Auckland.
"It would be completely self-contained," one church member, who did not want to be named, said.
The complex's schools would mean Destiny members could opt to remove their children from mainstream schooling.
"We have signed virtually for 10 acres with the possibility of another five if we want it and another five acres when we need it, which gives us 20 acres right in the heart of our largest city in our nation," Mr Tamaki said. You shift [house] for a pay rise of an extra three dollars at the supermarket or a job transfer, would you shift for the purpose of God .
"Every child of every member of this church will never have to go to a state school again…
Family trees had been drawn up and a time frame set for luring each branch to the walled city, the member said." Mr Tamaki asked the conference. But members had not been asked to sell their homes to pay for it, only make a donation toward it.
Church spokeswoman Janine Cardno said Destiny had made a conditional offer on a four-hectare (10 acre) property in central Manukau.
The ministries worked mainly with "gangs, violence and addictions", Ms Cardno said.
Those who felt it was their "gift" to help others were urged to move to South Auckland and work for one of the ministries at the new complex once it was completed. "That would be a commune kind of thing and that is not us. . With up to 1500 Auckland members, a big building and parking area was needed for its Sunday gatherings."
The land was zoned for commercial use and was too small to include housing, she said.
The church would know by November 10 if its offer on the land had been accepted.
It also had to accommodate its existing preschool and primary school, as well as a new secondary school planned for next year.

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Brawl, deaths stretch police to the limit

The Monday, 27 October 2008

Police investigating three deaths in Porirua within two hours were stretched to the limit after disorderly concertgoers converged on the city centre.
And in Wellington, a female constable suffered a broken nose while helping to break up a brawl outside Westpac Stadium, after Wellington's rugby defeat by Canterbury in the Air New Zealand Cup on Saturday night.
Senior Sergeant Tony Smith said Porirua police asked for reinforcements from Wellington police to disperse groups of young people, who gathered in central Porirua after a rap concert in Elsdon.
About 10.
The disorder added to an already busy night for Porirua police, who were called to three deaths in the area.
Police also attended the death of a five-month-old baby.30pm on Saturday, a 64-year-old man died in front of family members after collapsing outside the Titahi Bay boat club. The death is not believed to be suspicious. .
Early on Sunday, police were called to New World supermarket in Porirua, where they discovered the body of a 54-year-old Porirua man in a corner of the underground car park.
Wellington police were also stretched with a report of an aggravated robbery of a Karori dairy on Saturday night, and the brawl at Westpac Stadium.
Mr Smith said the disorder in the city stretched police, who needed to attend the scenes of the three deaths. A female constable suffered a broken nose.
Police made several arrests when they were called in to break up the brawl.
Senior Sergeant Anita Dixon said further backup for police was called but officers were diverted to a double-fatality car crash near Aotea Quay.
Senior Sergeant Anita Dixon said further backup for police was called but officers were diverted to a double-fatality car crash near Aotea Quay

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Formula link to diarrhoea

By and – Tuesday, 23 September 2008

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FORMULA WOES: Ken Todd’s daughter Haylee had severe diarrhoea and a bleeding nappy rash because the company producing her milk formula changed its supplier.

A 10-month-old North Canterbury girl has had severe diarrhoea and a bleeding nappy rash because the company producing her milk formula changed its supplier.
Nurture Baby, owned by Heinz, turned to a British supplier for its milk formula when a New Zealand-based company stopped supplying.
Ken Todd, of Waimakariri, said his baby daughter, Haylee, reacted to the Nurture Baby Follow-On formula when Todd and his wife moved her onto it about three weeks ago.
"As soon as we put (Haylee) onto it, probably within two days, she was having pretty much major diarrhoea and that caused a huge nappy rash, even with disposables," Todd said.
About 70 parents have called Heinz's careline in the past six weeks, with concerns that Nurture Baby Follow-On (red lid) and Nurture Starter (blue lid) have been giving their babies vomiting, nappy rash, wind, constipation and diarrhoea.
"It obviously hurt.
"At one point her bottom was actually bleeding and that's how bad it got.. It was awful . we trust (Heinz) to make a product in a certain way..
The products are regarded as safe and do not contain melamine the chemical behind the baby milk scandal in China but babies are usually slowly weaned onto new formula because they are sensitive to changes in food."
Four hundred cans of the Nurture Baby formula went on sale without warning that the supplier, and some ingredients, had changed.
Quality general manager Paddy O'Brien said Heinz was not allowed to advertise the change under New Zealand advertising law and instead put in an underlid leaflet.
Heinz apologised on the Nurture Baby website and on a TradeMe message board, saying human error had resulted in the changed formula cans ending up on shelves with no warning.
Heinz also failed to notify the Food Safety Authority (FSA). Todd did not recall such a leaflet.

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A FSA spokeswoman said she was surprised to hear of the problems and even though there was no legal notification requirement, "we would expect to be advised of this kind of thing"

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Death faker stole identity from dead baby

By DEAN CALCOTT – Saturday, 20 September 2008

A man has been jailed after he faked his death and stole from a gravestone the identity of a baby who lived for only 10 hours.
"He's got no backbone, he's got no heart, no love for his kids.
Bruce James Dale was jailed for two years and four months when he appeared yesterday in the Christchurch District Court. He's just sorry he got caught," the man's former wife, Sharon Behan-Kitto, said in a victim impact statement.
Judge Paul Kellar said Dale, 43, obtained the name of Michael Peach from the boy's headstone, then forged a new life for himself after staging his disappearance at Port Waikato in November 2002, causing an extensive and costly search.
Victim-impact reports from Behan-Kitto and the parents of the dead child were read, telling of the devastation his hoaxes caused.1 million to provide for his wife and children, which were paid out after he was declared dead by a High Court order in April 2004.
He had taken out insurance policies worth $1.
A victim-impact statement from the dead boy's parents spoke of the devastation to family members when they found out about Dale's actions under the child's name.
Dale made a new life for himself in Christchurch under his new identity, buying houses and operating a business, but was arrested after he applied for a passport in January under his real name, the judge said.
The family had regularly tended his grave for 47 years. The boy had lived for only 10 hours. I could kill the bastard, I said to police," the child's mother said.
"When we found our son's identity was stolen, we were devastated."
Behan-Kitto said in her statement that Dale's actions had made her sick, sad and depressed. "Many tears have been shed since we were told what happened.
It had taken years to get life back to normal, family members being disrupted again when they learnt he was still alive.
The hardest thing she had to do was to tell their two children he was dead, until she had to tell them he was not dead, Behan-Kitto said.
Dale admitted two counts of dishonestly using documents to get a birth certificate and Inland Revenue number, two of obtaining life insurance policies worth $1m and $121,000 by false pretences, and dishonestly using a document to get a driver's licence.
She said she was on anti-depressants and had serious health problems through stress.
Dale had complied with restrictive terms of bail and had raised $30,000 for reparation.
Dale's lawyer, Barry Hart, said Dale's former wife had been left "set up for life".
Dale got no direct benefit from the insurance payout, and it was almost inevitable he would be caught, Hart said.
A psychiatric report said that at the time of his offending Dale suffered from a major depressive disorder and problems with substance abuse, and he was suffering marital difficulties. "My submission is they were no such thing. "My submission is they were no such thing."
Dale obtained indirect gain, given his former wife and children benefited, and he escaped possible prosecution for debt, being in strained financial circumstances at the time, Stanaway said.
The use of the dead child's identity was an aggravating factor, he said.
Outside court, Dale's former business associate, Patrick Van Der Heuvel, said he was pleased Dale got jail, "but obviously it's not long enough".
He had been left out of pocket by their association but received no recompense from Dale, and all the time Dale was on bail there was no contact.
"At least he won't cost the taxpayer any more, apart from jail," Van Der Heuvel said.
Dale plans to appeal against the sentence.