Two a penny

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The father of a 17-year-old Auckland secondary school pupil whose killer was today convicted of murder spoke of being ”overwhelmed” by the verdict.

Charlie Borrell, whose son Augustine died from a single stab wound to the chest, said the past 18 months had been ”the equivalent of holding my breath”.

Davis, who was 18 at the time of the incident late on September 8 2007, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Haiden Mark Davis, 20, was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years for murdering Auckland Grammar School student Augustine Borrell during a confrontation in the inner city suburb of Herne Bay 18 months ago.

”I feel quite emotional about it all,” he told .

Speaking outside the High Court at Auckland, Mr Borrell said it was the right verdict, but ”it can’t bring back my son”.

”I was quietly confident that the jury would do the right thing, but there was always the fear that they’d return the wrong verdict.

”I think, whatever the verdict, we would still have broken down. It was all about the verdict.

”I didn’t even think about the punishment.”

Mr Borrell said he wanted to thank all his family and friends for their support throughout their ordeal.

”We’ve now reached a point where we can start healing a lot more.

It was met with applause, while Davis reacted by shouting obscenities as he was led out of the courtroom.

About 40 of Mr Borrell’s family and friends packed the courtroom and the atmosphere was fraught with emotion as the verdict was read out.

”He’s tried to paint a picture of remorse, but there is a lot more going on behind the scenes. . It brought my daughter to tears.

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”His attitude is very frustrating and it’s the equivalent of him kicking us in the head.

”You have behaved impeccably and with courtesy, dignity and humility.”

Sentencing Davis, Justice Rhys Harrison told the jury they had completed their task with care and diligence.

Augustine Borrell was one of six children, and his first cousin Chris McLean said he was ”a boy who had his act together in a big way”.”

Mr Borrell said the end of the case would allow the family to try to get on with their lives.

”He just walked into a moron.

”He had his own hire business and this year he was planning to buy a house.

”Davis had no idea who he was even having a go at.

”Davis had no idea who he was even having a go at. His first resort was violence.

”I heard that Davis has 25 previous convictions, including 18 for violence.

”He was on bail for aggravated robbery when he murdered Augustine.

”The world will be a better place with him off the streets,” Mr McLean said.

The jurors deliberated for four and half hours, returning once to tell the judge that they couldn’t reach a verdict.

He sent them away again and an hour later they came back with a guilty verdict. verdict.

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Man bashed outside 21st party in Taranaki

By RYAN EVANS – Tuesday, 03 March 2009

ROBERT CHARLES
New Plymouth police officers investigate the scene at Konini St, Inglewood, where a man was found with serious head injuries after a party early on Sunday.

A 30-year-old man is in Wellington Hospital with serious head injuries after being bashed outside a 21st birthday party in the Taranaki town of Inglewood.
Detective Senior Sergeant Keith Borrell, of New Plymouth CIB, said police believed the man was assaulted. .
Mr Borrell said police were speaking to people who had been at the party.
A section of Konini St was cordoned off yesterday while police investigated the scene.30am when the man went outside to his car. Guests spoken to by the yesterday said about 60 people had been at the party but most were gone by 5.
The guests did not think the man had been assaulted by another party goer but said perhaps he had tripped and fallen over.
They said a few people were left drinking and other people were still hanging around outside.
One neighbour reported hearing aggressive voices from the street about 5. They said the party had been trouble-free.
The neighbour looked out a window and reported seeing a man lying on the ground with people around him and a woman talking on a cellphone.30am.
They said the house was known to have parties that could get rowdy.
Neighbours said the party continued after the man was taken to hospital and only stopped when police arrived to investigate on Sunday evening.

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Yesterday afternoon the man was in a serious but stable condition, Mr Borrell said, and was being transferred to Wellington Hospital's neurological ward

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Marie Jamieson murder-accused sent to trial

– Thursday, 26 February 2009

JOSEPH MARTIN REEKERS: Sent to trial.

MARIE JAMIESON: Murdered in 2001.
Joseph Reekers, 52, of Auckland appeared in Waitakere District Court this afternoon for a depositions hearing.

The man charged with murdering Auckland hairdresser Marie Jamieson eight years ago has conceded the Crown has a prima facie case against him and has been committed to the High Court for trial.
Reekers has been remanded in custody and will appear in the High Court again next month.
All evidence presented to the court was in written form which the media had been banned from viewing.
Reekers was charged with her rape and murder last June.
The case remained cold until late in 2007 when police re-examined DNA evidence.
Her naked body was found behind factory buildings in Ranui on February 10 2001.
Ms Jamieson was last seen alive as she walked past the Gull service station in the Auckland suburb of Kingsland eight years ago.

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Neighbours tell of attack on woman, 99

The Saturday, 14 February 2009

Aman who attacked a 99-year-old woman in her home walked into a bedroom when police arrived and said he was going to bed, a court has been told.
Neighbours reported the screams of the woman who yelled "save me" and then hearing pounding thuds.
"What's he done, what's he done to me, have I been stabbed?" she asked.
Police found the frail woman bleeding, with her nightie unbuttoned and arms outstretched, and the man still in the home.
He is charged with indecent assault, male assaults female, and burglary.
Glen Patrick Walsh, 20, appeared for a depositions hearing in Palmerston North District Court yesterday. . He conceded a prima facie case and had been committed to trial. One said: "I felt terrified just hearing this going on.
In briefs of evidence, neighbours told of hearing screams of "save me" and "don't". It sounded like she was screaming from the top of her lungs. It sounded like the woman was scared.
He told him to get out of bed and that he was under arrest but the man was incoherent."
Constable Garry Bedford followed the assailant, who was shirtless and barefooted, into a bedroom and watched him get into a bed and pull the covers over his legs.
The court was told Walsh had been drinking home-brew spirits that night. "Nah, I'm going to bed," the man replied."It appeared to me the nightie had been pulled open.
Constable Lisa Walker said the top buttons of the woman's nightie were undone.
Yesterday her family said she was still in hospital, had undergone three operations, had nightmares and wanted to go home."
The woman was taken to Palmerston North Hospital with gashes to both arms and her leg..
"She should have been able to see out her days at home . I promised her she would never have to go to the home but now she's got to go in one," her daughter said.. "She was perfect on that day, though she was tired out by the end of it. "She was perfect on that day, though she was tired out by the end of it."

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NZ sisters offer shelter to survivors

By DENISE McNABB in Whittlesea Friday, 13 February 2009

The Age
MOVED TO TEARS: Two big-hearted Kiwi sisters have opened their home to victims of the Australian bushfires. Maria Totorewa, front, and Sue Wirepai say their home is open to anyone who wants to stay.
Maria Totorewa and sister Sue Wirepai, visiting from Melbourne, are among hundreds of people in the devastated town of Whittlesea, Victoria, to offer help at a temporary refugee centre.

Two big-hearted Kiwi sisters have opened their home to victims of the Australian bushfires. She fought back tears yesterday as she remembered friends who died in the fires.
"My house is open to anyone who wants to stay," Mrs Totorewa said.
"I can't take my sunglasses off. The flames were just 20 minutes from her home when the wind changed direction, saving her family. . You will see my tears," she said. We saw nothing. We were under the air conditioner eating ice popsicles, trying to get relief from the heat. Police need cellphones in the huge task of identifying bodies."
Her husband, Chris, a telecommunications contractor, has gone to the obliterated town of Marysville to build new cellphone towers.
Many people, including cricketer Shane Warne, have poured into Whittlesea anxious to lend a hand. Fifteen people are confirmed dead in the town, which had a population of 519.

. Firms have also donated goods by the truckload

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Kindy teachers want exemption from law

The Thursday, 22 January 2009

Kindergarten teachers want an exemption from National's 90-day trial period law, in what may be the first real test of the controversial employment legislation.
The Educational Institute, which represents most of the 2000 kindergarten teachers, has lodged a new employment claim with the Education Ministry. . It follows the passage of a law before Christmas giving employers of fewer than 20 workers the right to sack staff within the first 90 days without going through normal employment procedures.
The 28-month claim, which seeks a 4 per cent pay rise this year and continuing pay parity with primary teachers, was lodged in December but a new clause was lodged this week.
Educational Institute national secretary Paul Goulter said the law had serious implications for the education sector, where recruitment was a "major challenge".
The union fears smaller, rural associations, which employ fewer than 20 teachers, would be disadvantaged by the law, as working for them could become less attractive. It seeks agreement between the ministry and kindergarten associations that a 90-day trial period "is neither necessary or desirable" and would be left out of the kindergarten teachers' collective agreement.

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Kindy teachers want exemption from law

The Thursday, 22 January 2009

Kindergarten teachers want an exemption from National's 90-day trial period law, in what may be the first real test of the controversial employment legislation.
The Educational Institute, which represents most of the 2000 kindergarten teachers, has lodged a new employment claim with the Education Ministry. . It follows the passage of a law before Christmas giving employers of fewer than 20 workers the right to sack staff within the first 90 days without going through normal employment procedures.
The 28-month claim, which seeks a 4 per cent pay rise this year and continuing pay parity with primary teachers, was lodged in December but a new clause was lodged this week.
Educational Institute national secretary Paul Goulter said the law had serious implications for the education sector, where recruitment was a "major challenge".
The union fears smaller, rural associations, which employ fewer than 20 teachers, would be disadvantaged by the law, as working for them could become less attractive. It seeks agreement between the ministry and kindergarten associations that a 90-day trial period "is neither necessary or desirable" and would be left out of the kindergarten teachers' collective agreement.

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Beach seaweed complaints don’t wash, council says

Friday, 02 January 2009

Island Bayresidents are threatening to bring in bulldozers to clean up their beach after the council turned down requests to remove smelly seaweed and weeds.
Council officials say the debris is forming a natural protection against erosion.
"It's a waste of a beach, the only swimming beach on the south coast that's suitable for little children.
Beach cleanup campaigner Margaret Davis said the council had ignored a petition signed by hundreds of residents calling for action."
Last month, Mrs Davis presented a petition signed by 583 people to Wellington City Council.
"Surely it is the right of families who live close to an urban beach to be able to take toddlers in bare feet to play in clean dry sand. "And his answer is still no.
However, on Christmas Eve she was told councillors had referred the matter to the official who refused her request in the first place.
Wellington City Council parks manager Paul Andrews said council workers regularly removed litter and rubbish, but not natural beach debris and vegetation."
She said some long-term residents were so fed up that they had suggested hiring a bulldozer to do the job themselves."
Where vegetation had spread, the sand had stabilised. .
"Potentially you're going to get a better quality beach long term if you allow the dunes to build up again.
"We're not losing sand from the beach system, and there's less cost to ratepayers in cleaning up the road, less inconvenience to residents from sand blowing on to their properties.
In October, Mrs Davis told The the council had stopped taking seaweed and driftwood from the beach after the Taputeranga Marine Reserve came into force in August."
A local community conservation group had been replanting dunes at the western end of the beach for some years and was interested in extending that work, he said.

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Wellington City Council said last year it could no longer remove seaweed from the reserve because of rules prohibiting the removal of marine items a stance the Conservation Department said was wrong

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Witches, masons miss out on fake knives

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Abulk order of fake plastic knives and swords, coveted by local witches and Freemasons, will be handed over by Customs, but not in time for the Christmas rush.
Importer and retailer Dave Hannay won the right to retrieve the 230 knives and swords after the Customs service failed to appear in Napier Civil Court yesterday – but he cannot have them till next month, and then only if Customs does not object.
The order included 60 dragon-handled double-edged swords, 50 slide knives and 120 daggers with twisted blades.
The Chinese-made knives and swords were to have been sold in Mr Hannay's Napier store, King of Swords, but were seized by Customs in Auckland on December 21 last year as they were deemed to be offensive weapons.
The items, most of which are plastic with blunt edges, would have sold for about $9200. .
"The daggers were for the Freemasons. The swords have blunt stainless steel blades and plastic handles, and are glued into a resin dragon before being sold. "You'd be surprised who buys them. The others are bought for all sorts," Mr Hannay said. There are heaps of witches round here, and down in Masterton. Witches need them for their covens.
"This means I've missed two Christmases. And re-enactors, they like them too. If they'd [Customs] just turned up in court it might have been sorted. I've spent a year writing letters to various people trying to sort this out. "But these are weak imitations."
Mr Hannay said he understood that Customs was bound by definitions that saw fakes such as his classified as offensive weapons. I sell pocket knives in my store that are more dangerous. They'd snap if you hit anyone with them."
He said Customs had been made aware that it should have appeared in court. It's just ridiculous. He adjourned the case till next month in case Customs wished to be heard.
Judge Geoff Rea said that, "on the face of it", the knives would be ordered to be turned over to Mr Hannay.

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Weekend of drunken mayhem: 1000 calls to police

Monday, 15 December 2008

Drunkenmayhem sparked more than 1000 calls to Wellington police over the weekend 650 to the police communications centre and 414 triple-one calls.
Most of them related to booze-fuelled fights, disorder, domestic disputes and driving complaints.
"It is a high number, but not unusually high for this time of year in summer people tend to go out in the good weather, start drinking early and carry on right through the night," Mr Darroch said.
Inspector Steve Darroch said Wellington police were flat out dealing with alcohol-related incidents from Saturday afternoon, when people headed out to enjoy the good weather and kept drinking through the night.
Wellington police were busy yesterday processing 22 intoxicated people who had been held in cells overnight. . It accounts for 70 per cent of emergency hospital admissions, kills nearly three people a day and accounts for well over half of all crime.
The weekend binge underlined concerns at the growing booze toll, as reported in The on Saturday.
Wellington Hospital chief medical officer and drug and alcohol specialist Geoff Robinson said New Zealand needed to face up to its alcohol problem, which killed about 1000 people a year.
Every weekend, booze sends 84 people on average to Wellington Hospital either injured or seriously intoxicated.
Hot spots for drunken disorder on the weekend were Courtenay Place and Taranaki St, especially in the vicinity of nightclubs, Sergeant Corey Watts said.
Doctors and counsellors have called for a big rise in beer and wine prices, cuts in the number of outlets, bans on television advertising, raising the legal drinking age and more funding for treatment programmes.
Courtenay Place Expressoholic employee Alan Hunt said drunken tomfoolery was prevalent in Courtenay Place every Friday and Saturday night.
"Saturday is always a busy night, but more people were locked up than usual this weekend probably reflecting the time of year," Mr Watts said.
Neighbouring cafe owner Thanasis De Winter believed the drunkenness and violence on the streets on Saturday night was about normal levels, but he noticed a stronger police presence and more people being arrested throughout the evening and continuing well into Sunday morning.
"People are generally pretty good till about 10pm, then from about 3am fights start and there are girls screaming," Mr Hunt said.
Porirua police arrested eight drunken men the same night on a variety of charges, including assault and breaching bail conditions.
"Police were pretty tough arresting people with alcohol," Mr De Winter said.

. Earlier this month, more than 1000 drivers were breath-tested in booze-bus operations in Otaki and Levin, but only nine were found to be over the limit