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Brother, sister talk to police after attempted kidnapping
By JARED MORGAN – Tuesday, 25 November 2008
A brother and sister at the centre of an attempted kidnapping in Invercargill will be spoken to today by police and a psychologist specially trained in interviewing children.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Bowman, of Invercargill CIB, said the children would be interviewed to gain extra insight into the attempted abduction, which happened in daylight on Sunday.
A man tried to grab the four-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy as they played at the rugby league grounds on the corner of Ness and Ettrick streets about 3pm.
The man then grabbed the boy, but the pair managed to escape when the man went to open the van door.
He attempted to pull the girl by her arm into a white van but the boy held her other arm.
"It's certainly not something we've had for a long time here and of course one (attempted kidnapping) is too many," he said.
The incident and its timing was of concern to police, Bowman said.
THe officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Fred Shandley, said police planned to interview the boy today while his sister, because of her age, would be spoken to by a psychologist.
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Man in hospital after Upper Hutt stabbing
Monday, 03 November 2008
A man has suffered a punctured lung in an overnight stabbing in Upper Hutt.
The 31-year-old was found in the city early yesterday morning with life threatening injuries.
“We could have quite easily been investigating a homicide.
Detective Sergeant Tony Heathcote said the stabbing happened on Main St, close to the intersection with Royal St.”
The victim had surgery and is now in a stable condition in Hutt Hospital. The victim has stab wounds to the side of his chest, one of which has punctured his lung.
“We believe there was a large group of people in the area who saw what happened or who have information about the stabbing,” Mr Heathcote said.
Police believe at least three people were involved in an altercation with the victim, and are interested in talking to witnesses. .
A 19-year-old man was arrested at the scene of the stabbing and was charged with possession of a knife in a public place.
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Art in living colour at tattoo show
Monday, 03 November 2008
MAARTEN HOLL/The
NEEDLE WORK: Don McClintock, 54, who `never liked tattoos’, was named overall winner of the Lower Hutt Charity Tattoo Show yesterday.
Ittakes seven years and $70,000 to get a body like Don McClintock's. He also won the best tattooed arm, back, leg and full body sections as he stormed his way to the $1000 winner's cheque at Lower Hutt Town Hall.
The 54-year-old was named overall winner of the Lower Hutt Charity Tattoo Show yesterday.
"Then I had Lady Luck tattooed on, so our luck would change, and the whole thing just took off from there.
A family crisis seven years ago resulted in the self-employed joiner from Christchurch having the names of his children tattooed around his neck."
Mr McClintock has lost count of how many tattoos he has, or how long they took his tattooist, Steve Johnson from Downunder-Tattoo, to create. I never liked tattoos before that to be honest."The only remaining parts of his body left to cover are the backs of his feet and areas on his inner thighs. .
The 3500 people at the two-day show also had the chance to watch tattooists, in action, including Ali Reid from ALC Headquarters in Cuba St.
Sarah Munro, 20, from Karori nailed the runner-up spot with her tattoos by Manu Tattoo.
More than $1000 was raised for Life Education Trust.
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Rising star one of two killed in crash
Friday, 19 September 2008
One of the two young shearers killed in a road crash in Central Otago was a rising star in the shearing world.
Police have said speed and fatigue were likely factors in the deaths Southland shearing gang members Stewart Hetaraka Smith, 20, of Mataura and Lavenia Setefano, 19, of Gore.15am when a van containing six shearers rolled on a straight stretch road about 4km east of Poolburn, between Ophir and Oturehua.
They were killed about 6.
Smith andSetefano died at the scene.
All six were thrown from the van when it rolled on a straight stretch of road and came to rest in a paddock. They were two women, aged 17 and 20, from Alexandra, and a 40-year-old man from Masterton.
Three others were seriously injured and flown by helicopter to Dunedin Hospital. The two young Alexandra women were his daughters.
The gang worked for Alexandra shearing contractor Dion Morrell.
"They are fairly well battered and bruised," he said.
Morrell said just before he left for Dunedin yesterday that doctors believed his daughters would pull through.
He said Smith and Setefano were "superb, absolute gems".
Smith, Setefano and the other survivors had worked for him for about two months..
"It's a hell of a loss . As people you couldn't wish for better..
A 36-year-old man from Gisborne was taken to Dunstan Hospital with moderate injuries. They really were cool kids," he said.
He was in three successive finals at Golden Shears in Masterton, was a runner-up in the junior class in 2006, fourth in the intermediate class in 2007 and fourth in the senior class in March this year.
Mr Smith was a promising young competition shearer who had spent two years on the "modern apprentice" programme with industry trainers Tectra.
Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw, of the Central Otago CIB, said he understood neither Smith nor Setefano was driving.
He had started last season finishing second in the New Zealand Spring Shears intermediate final at Waimate in October, before going up to the senior class, and finishing third at the Southern Shears in Gore in February, before heading for Masterton.
No other vehicle was involved in the crash, Shaw said.
No other vehicle was involved in the crash, Shaw said.
He described the crash scene as "horrific and tragic".
Smith was from a prominent Mataura shearing family, and had made the final at the past three Golden Shears competitions.
– With