Two a penny

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Patrick Allan Daken acted in self-defence when he stabbed his brother 12 times in the chest, back and head in a fight at the family home in Canterbury, his counsel said today.

Daken is appearing in the High Court at Christchurch accused of murdering Kelly at Port Levy, 45km south-east of Christchurch, on June 10 last year.

Defence counsel Andrew McKenzie said the defence of self-defence was available to every citizen.

Daken’s defence team told the court today he was attacked with lethal force by his brother who was wielding a metal poker and threatening to kill him.”

Patrick Daken was sitting at home when Kelly launched his attack, thrashing him around the leg with a metal fire poker, Mr McKenzie said.

“Killing is not murder and this crown case is based on that central flaw.”

Prosecutor Tim Mackenzie said the crown accepted that Kelly Daken attacked Patrick and said he was going to kill him, but the only injuries he inflicted were a couple of red marks on the leg and a bite mark on the finger.

Kelly Daken then started to choke his brother, all the while chanting: “I’m going to kill you Patrick.

The attack continued, and Warren pulled Kelly off his brother again and threatened to call police.

He said that after the attack began, another brother – Warren Daken – took the poker off Kelly and threw it on the couch.

They went back inside and Patrick kicked, yelled, and stomped on his brother as he lay on the floor.

He was outside getting the phone from a camper van when Patrick came out of the house and said he had just killed Kelly.

He told the court pathologist Martin Sage would say there were 12 stab wounds in Kelly’s body. .

One wound to the skull was 5. Five wounds were in the upper chest and penetrated the chest cavity. Abrasions from kicking and stomping were also evident.5cm deep and penetrated the brain.

He would also be guilty of murder if he intended to cause bodily injury that was likely to cause death and was reckless as to whether death ensued.

Mr Mackenzie said Patrick Daken would be guilty of murder if it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that he intended to kill his brother when he stabbed him.

The trial is continuing.

A person was permitted to use reasonable force in defence of themselves or another person.

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Three Chinese tourists who were robbed at knife point are “stunned and shocked” after being duped into thinking they were doing a good deed.

The trio were robbed at knifepoint by two men whom they had stopped to help on the side of the road in the Far North around 3.

Detective Sergeant Trevor Beatson of the Kaitaia Tactical Response Group said the tourists had been hailed by two Maori men in a maroon coloured station wagon, who claimed they were lost.30pm yesterday.

The incident occurred on a stretch of gravel road which runs through Te Paki Reserves and farm land leading to Te Paki Stream and 90 Mile Beach, from State Highway 1F.

When they stopped to help, the tourists were set upon by the men who assaulted them, produced knives and then demanded money and property.

“They had come to New Zealand fully believing it was a safe place to holiday and now their holiday and impressions of our country have been shattered. .

They were driving a maroon or dark red coloured station wagon similar to a Subaru Legacy.”

The two men were Maori, believed to be in their 20′s and described as tall with strong physical builds.

Anyone with information should call 027 223 2628.

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The Government and the ACT Party are denying that a crisis has developed over whether there should be reserved Maori seats on Auckland’s new city council.

It was revealed last night that a senior National MP – believed to be Tau Henare – sent an email to his caucus colleagues telling them ACT had threatened to end its relationship with the Government if it “gave in to Maori” and agreed to having special Maori seats on the council.

“We’ve certainly never threatened to end the relationship,” he said.

But ACT leader and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said the email was wrong.”

Speaking on Radio New Zealand this morning, Mr Hide said they were waiting to hear back from the results from the select committee but conceded there was discussion around the issue.

“What we have done is state our position very clearly and we are opposed to any reservation of seats for a particular group.”

Mr Hide said he would have to resign as minister if the Maori seats were enshrined.

“We’ll get the report, we’ll see what the select committee recommends and then we’ll see what Parliament decides.

“I can’t in good conscience as leader of the Act Party accept legislation that to me is so fundamentally against the culture of New Zealand and the principle of the Act Party as the separate Maori seats are.

He said he had told Mr Key about his stance on seperate Maori seats when talks about a confidence and supply agreement began.

NOT CONFIDENCE AND SUPPLY CLAUSE

Mr Hide said National MP Tau Henare had the wrong impression around his intention and said ACT would continue to support National in a confidence and supply agreement.”

He said it was a matter of principle – one person one vote and seats should be contestable by all comers.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister John Key said ACT’s views were well known.

He said it had never occurred to him that a National government would be even contemplating having separate Maori seats, “so I didn’t write it in our confidence and supply agreement,” he told Radio New Zealand. We have all sorts of discussions with support parties, we’re not about to start conducting those in the media,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working through arrangements for the super city.”

The Royal Commission which reported on Auckland’s local government structure recommended reserved Maori seats but the Government scrapped that when it set out its plans for the city. .

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The Maori Party has been lobbying to overturn the Government’s decision and both sides have been looking for a compromise

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Actresses Lucy Lawless and Keisha Castle-Hughes sported blue casts on their arms to help launch a climate campaign in Auckland today.

The cast, which had the slogan, “Come on John, Sign On” written across it, aims to urge the Government to adopt a 40 percent emissions reduction target by 2020.

The Sign On campaign has already attracted close toly 100,000 supporters in three months, and Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey and climate scientist Jim Salinger were among the people who helped raise the campaign’s profile today.

Simon Boxer, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace, said Prime Minister John Key was the one person who could ensure New Zealand upped its climate change commitments.

Passers-by in Auckland’s Vulcan Lane were invited to sign the arm casts, which will then be worn at events in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate summit in December. I think he’ll find quite the opposite as we get closer to Copenhagen.

“John Key may think that by announcing a conditional target of 10 to 20 percent the issue is done and dusted. After all it’s only New Zealand’s initial offer in the negotiations,” Mr Boxer said.

“100,000 Kiwis have already signed on to 40 percent by 2020 and John Key needs to listen.

Ms Lawless said scientists believed an emissions reduction target of 40 percent by 2020 was needed.

Campaigners held a banner which read, “Join the cast of thousands” to encourage people to sign on to the campaign. A government belongs to its people – not the other way round,” Ms Lawless said.

“We are not saying it’s going to be easy, and we do not envy him being the one who has to make the hard call.

Castle-Hughes said it was all about creating a public mandate for Mr Key to “do the right thing”. But the science is clear and the time is right. But the science is clear and the time is right.

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According to Greenpeace, the most recent science assessments state that a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 on 1990 levels for the developed world is essential to give the planet a 50/50 chance of avoiding runaway climate change

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Police are hunting burglars who beat a cat so severely during the course of the robbery that it had to be put down.

Senior Constable Bruce Bogun said a Hamilton family returned to their Albert St home to find that not only had they been robbed, but their cat was cowering in a cupboard so severely injured the vet decided it had to be euthanised.

The cat was discovered by the family’s 10-year-old daughter, Mr Bogun said.

“The cat also suffered serious internal injuries from being kicked, my daughter is very, very upset with it having to be put down.

“It appeared to be in a lot of pain and taking it to the vet we were told it had had its tail broken in three places and had a broken pelvis,” a family member told police. .”

Mr Bogun said that being burgled was stressful enough without having to deal with blatant animal cruelty.

Police said anyone with information should contact them on (07) 858 6200.

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The New Zealand navy team trying to find the wreckage of the sunken Princess Ashika faces a “challenging environment” with depths of up to 800m, commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Andrew McMillan says.

A 15-strong team, comprising 12 drivers and a three-member remote search team, spent a second day today searching for the Tongan inter-island ferry, which sank on Wednesday with 149 people on board.Police say the final number of missing could be higher, and they were continuing to analyse information about unrecorded people on board the vessel, whose official manifest showed only 79 passengers and crew.Two bodies and 54 survivors have been found, while 93 people remain unaccounted for.However, nothing was found.

Mr McMillan said the team today focused on a 50-110m deep site where an oil slick and debris had been seen, and where the Tongan Defence Service’s echo sounder had appeared to detect an object. It ranges from 35m down to 110m down to 800m,” he said.”The topography of the seafloor is a very challenging environment here.”The New Zealand equipment had a limitation of 100m -”or, if we’re very lucky, 115m”.”You don’t have to travel very far and the depth can change very quickly.”But we’ll certainly do our best.”So with the topography, with the uncertainty of where the vessel has gone down, we have to face the realisation that we might not even be able to find it.Those members who remained in the capital Nuku’alofa tonight attended a multi-denominational remembrance service which attracted about 1000 people.”The team would spend tonight aboard Tongan patrol boat and resume their search tomorrow.Earlier he said a complete manifest was held by a crew member on the ferry when it sailed but that had been lost in the sinking.Tongan police commander Chris Kelley gave those there an update on the situation.Survivors have described how they saw the ferry hit by a 1m wave which swept the cargo to one side, resulting in the vessel to overturn.”What we are faced (with) is that people are telling us is they put people on the boat and they weren’t on the manifest that was supplied here,” he said.Mr Kelley said police and government support teams were visiting families throughout the kingdom “to try to confirm the exact number and identity of people on board”.”The ferry sank so quickly that no one was able to do anything, and I think the passengers inside just couldn’t make it out in time because the ferry just overturned and sank so quickly, in a minute,” survivor Viliami Latu Mohenoa said. .Efforts were also under way to identify foreign nationals among the passengers.

.”The two bodies recovered were of a British national who had been living in New Zealand and a Tongan woman

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Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs is to be released from prison on compassionate grounds due to ill health, after serving 10 years of a 30-year sentence.

The release was announced by UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw overnight.

He was refused parole by the Justice Secretary the previous month.

“Mr Ronald Biggs has been informed today of my decision regarding his application for compassionate release on medical grounds,” Straw said in a statement. His son, Michael, has made desperate pleas for his release.

The 79-year-old inmate at Norwich Prison in eastern England has since been admitted to hospital suffering from a chest infection.”

He said he had been influenced by the Parole Board’s judgement which had found his propensity to breach trust a very significant factor.

Straw said he had made the initial decision to refuse parole principally because Biggs had shown “no remorse for his crimes nor respect for the punishments given to him.

“The medical evidence clearly shows that Mr Biggs is very ill and that his condition has deteriorated recently, culminating in his re-admission to hospital.

But Straw said he had changed his mind after considering the prisoner’s health, specifically whether death was likely to occur soon and whether the prisoner was bedridden or incapacitated.

Along with 11 other gang members, Biggs robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963 and stole 2. His condition is not expected to improve,” Straw said. The crime became known as “The Great Train Robbery.6 million pounds – about 30 million pounds in today’s money.

He used his share of the loot to pay for plastic surgery and papers for a passage to Australia where he returned to his old job of carpenter and decorator. .

His playboy lifestyle and cocky defiance of the British authorities made him a criminal legend, spawning several films and making heroes out of the villains in the eyes of millions around the world. He later fled to Brazil via Panama and Venezuela.

The Ministry of Justice said Biggs will spend one more night being watched by prison guards before his release.

He surrendered to police in 2001 after 36 years on the run.

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“It won’t come into effect until tomorrow morning once licence papers have been signed — then he will be free to go,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said

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A team of search and rescue volunteers and police are being flown to the Waikawau area this morning to continue the search for a missing light aircraft and its pilot.

The plane – a two-seater Cessna 152 light aircraft – had been flying from Auckland’s North Shore to New Plymouth.50pm when he reported his location over Raglan, estimating he would reach New Plymouth in about an hour.

Air traffic controllers last heard from the lone pilot at 6.30pm the Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) received a beacon distress signal from the aircraft.

At 7.

A helicopter was despatched from Hamilton but could not get low enough to search the area as a result of cloud.

RCC tracked the beacon to a spot on land, 35km west of Te Kuiti.

An Air Force Iroquois helicopter from Ohakea joined the search but encountered the same problems. After refuelling the crew tried again but the weather had worsened and the flight was abandoned.

Three of the search team are alpine trained and will search the area on foot while the aircraft continues and aerial search, police say.

Another Iroquois helicopter is now taking a team of three search and rescue volunteers and police into the area.

Police say severe weather conditions continue to be an issue. The area is remote and rugged with very steep terrain.

He was heading to New Plymouth to undergo instructor training at the New Plymouth Aero Club, the club’s vice-president Bruce Findlay said.

The pilot, who is in his twenties and from the New Plymouth area, is described by police as experienced.

“It’s just devastating,” he said last night.

Mr Findlay said the pilot held his commercial pilot’s licence. .

“This is just the last thing you would want.

– and RYAN EVANS,

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They said they would be there as long as it took and were liaising with Maritime New Zealand and police

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Taranaki Regional Council says it has removed drum remnants and soil contaminated with toxic chemicals, including dioxin, from a New Plymouth park. .

The drums and 180 cubic metres of surrounding soil were dug up and taken to the regional landfill, which was designed to contain waste, council director of environment quality Gary Bedford said today.

The drums are believed to have been dumped there by the former Ivon Watkins-Dow factory, when there were fewer rules surrounding disposing of chemicals. Sampling came up clear for contaminants and Marfell Park was safe for playing.

“It’s the safest thing to do in terms of New Zealand’s options,” he told Radio New Zealand.

The appointment was not for technical assessment but for credibility and to address any anxiety by the residents, Mr Bedford said.

The council had also employed an independent contamination expert, Graeme Proffitt, to lead a sampling and testing programme of the park, after residents had expressed doubts over what the council was reporting.

Former Ivon Watkins-Dow manager Bob Moffat said last week that in 1955, when he began work at the company, there were no restrictions on what could be taken to municipal dumps.

Dow Agro Sciences, formerly Ivon Watkins-Dow, says it does not know how chemicals got there but the company would have used municipal landfills, along with many other chemical companies, in the past.

“That was part of the normal state of things in those days,” he said.

It wasn’t everyday practice to take waste to the local tip but it did happen.

There are 40 former landfill sites in the New Plymouth District of which 10 are used as parks or reserve land.

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Two more people have been charged with murdering Hamilton man Piki Kingi as police reveal drugs played a part in his death.

Mr Kingi’s body was found in a car on a Hamilton street on Sunday night. A second man was arrested when he left an inner city hotel where he had stayed the night before.

Waikato Armed Offenders Squad members stormed a house in Thames St, Claudelands, yesterday afternoon and arrested a man.

Four people have now been charged with Mr Kingi’s murder.

The unemployed Hamilton men, aged 20 and 41, were due to appear in the Hamilton District Court today. The 47-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were remanded in custody without plea. A Hamilton couple appeared in court yesterday. The couple were known to Mr Kingi. They were due to reappear next month. His body was yesterday returned to his family and it is understood a tangi would be held at a marae close to Huntly.

Autopsy results released today reveal Mr Kingi, 38, received multiple head injuries.

Inquiry head Hamilton police Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page said Mr Kingi’s body was covered with a large amount of material including blankets, duvets and clothing.

Mr Kingi’s body was discovered on Sunday in the back seat of a car which had been parked in Mansel Ave since last Wednesday. Police and forensic teams spent the weekend scouring the property.

Police on Monday confirmed Mr Kingi died at a Cobham Dr address.

“It’s been a big part of the investigation and the investigation has revealed there is an element of drug involvement in the case.

Mr Page confirmed drugs played a major role in Mr Kingi’s death.

When questioned about a gang element, Mr Page said it was common for gangs to feature in drug-related deaths.”

The Times understands the drug involved was methamphetamine or P.”

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“With most drugs there is a gang involvement and at this stage it doesn’t feature at all but we are keeping an open mind about that