Two a penny

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A rugby referee has been king-hit by a spectator holding a baby, after a controversial end to a game in Auckland.

The attack happened during a Samoan United Rugby Shield game between the Auckland Eagles and Laulii Liona at Williams Park in Mangere at the weekend.

Tournament organiser Moe Mata’afa said the event happened after the Eagles scored the winning try in injury time before one of the Laulii players made a late tackle.

Auckland rugby referees manager Mike Elliott confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated by the disciplinary committee.

Mr Mata’afa said that, soon after, as the referee stood in the officials’ tent talking to some of the players, the man – understood to be a spectator – entered the tent and punched the referee from behind.

As the referee spoke with the Laulii captain after he awarded the Eagles a penalty, he was allegedly abused by one of the Laulii team’s support staff and ended the game. . The man then fled…”

“But it wasn’t a real [bad punch] because he had a baby in one hand. they were talking to him in the tent and someone just from nowhere punched the referee.

Mr Mata’afa said they had called police but the unidentified man had already fled.”

He believed the incident was sparked by the referee’s decision to end the game won by the Eagles 14-12, early.

The tournament is played following the regular rugby season and consists of teams made up by players from the same villages in Samoa.

He said the incident was the first of its kind in the tournament’s six-year history.

Mr Elliott said the referee had not suffered any serious injuries and would referee again this weekend.

It was made up of Auckland and Counties Manukau club and secondary school rugby players.”

Otahuhu Senior Sergeant Laurie Culpan confirmed the assault but said they had not located the offender.

“We would like to find the culprit but a member of the public is pretty hard to find when they disappear into the woodwork.

Mr Culpan said since it was not a serious assault, the enquiries were being left to the Auckland Rugby Union, with police to act on any information provided by them.

“Police were called but obviously by the time we got there the spectator had disappeared, which is fairly common for these sort of things,” he said.”

He said the rugby union had measures they could take such as bans on individuals or standing clubs down in order to get the person to come forward.

“As you can imagine from our perspective, everybody’s gone, there are that many lines of inquiry for a minor assault, it would chew an inordinate amount of police time.

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Three New Zealanders have been confirmed as killed in the Pacific tsunami, with another presumed dead and grave concerns held for two others.

The only New Zealander so far identified isMary Ann White, 54, of Raglan, whose family was trying last night to get her body home.

The injured are being accompanied by six family members, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. .

Acting Prime Minister Bill English said earlier today that three Britons and two Germans who were also injured would also be evacuated.

They are expected to arrive at Auckland’s Whenuapai Airport early tomorrow morning and will then be transported by a fleet of ambulances to local hospitals for treatment.

There were initially reports that a two-year-old Auckland boy had been officially identified as one of those killed.

The confirmed death toll from Wednesday’s tsunamis, caused by an 8 magnitude undersea quake, stood at 149 in Samoa, 31 on American Samoa and nine on neighbouring Tonga.

The toddler was swept out to sea as he was playing on the beach with his parents at Lalomanu when the 6m wave came ashore on Wednesday. This is incorrect, and it is understood he remains missing, presumed dead.

MFAT earlierconfirmed it was providing support to the toddler’s parents. His parents swam to safety.

The husband and wife, originally from Britain, now live in Auckland.

They were taken to hospital yesterday with minor injuries and later discharged and are staying at the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa. Tsunami warnings were given and they were trying to escape to higher ground when the waves struck. The family was holidaying at a resort close to the village of Lalomanu.

GRAVE CONCERNS

MFATsays grave fears are held for two New Zealanders who had been staying at the Taufua Resort, Lalomanu.

Plans are underway to medi-vacinjured New Zealanders on a RNZAF plane to New Zealand as soon as possible.

However, the Martin family of Wardville, outside Matamata, was this morning preparing to fly out to Samoa in search of their two daughters who flew to Samoa on Monday for a holiday. The ministry has not released details of the pair.

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The sisters, Petria, 22 and Rebecca, 24, were holidaying with their cousin, a Hamilton travel agent and her friend, and had been due back tomorrow

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LATEST:
A cyclist died after a collision with a car on State Highway 1 near Te Horo, Kapiti Coast, this afternoon.

Inspector Paul Jermy said a northbound car collided with a cyclist travelling in the same direction at 4:50pm. .

Mr Jermy said traffic was very heavy in the area and police were asking motorists to defer travel if possible.

Police were speaking to the driver of the car.

No information on the identity of the cyclist was currently available.

Police would try to keep the road open while a scene examination was conducted, but delays were likely.

Earlier, police warned motorists to be careful driving over the Rimutaka Hill as a result of high winds.

They said the high winds were buffeting South Wairarapa and the Rimutaka Hill road.

Motorcyclists and drivers of high-sided vehicles should take particular caution.

WELLINGTON TRAFFIC CAMERAS

Aotea Quay traffic camera, provided by CityLink .

The winds were strong enough the police advised drivers should delay their travel if possible.

– Still image – Video

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– Still image – Video

Courtenay Placetraffic camera, provided by CityLink

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An Australian man raped his daughter almost daily for 30 years and fathered her four children, in a case that echoes Austria’s Fritzl incest horror, according to reports.

A News Limited newspaper reports the alleged rapes started in the 1970s when the victim was about 11 and continued until 2007.

It reports all four children were born with birth defects in major Melbourne hospitals.

The woman reportedly spoke to police at Morwell, in Gippsland, eastern Victoria, in 2005 after a neighbour intervened, but she declined to cooperate because she feared for her safety.

The man, in his 60s, has been charged with more than 80 offences and is due to appear in court in November. Police conducted DNA tests on the father and, in February, laid 83 charges of sex abuse against him.

However, she went to police again in June last year and gave a statement against her father, the Herald Sun reports. .

The newspaper says the accused man’s wife had denied knowing of any assaults or who fathered her daughter’s children.

The victim’s mother claims she was unaware of any abuse despite sharing a house with her daughter, husband and grandchildren until 2005.

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The Herald Sun newspaper quotes sources saying the case could be “every bit as bad” as that of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter and fathered seven children with her

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New Zealand is ready to assist Indonesia after a large earthquake killed at least 46 people and injured hundreds more, the Prime Minister said.

Wednesday’s 7.

A newly married Rotorua couple who were rushing home after learning of a family death were caught up in the powerful earthquake.0 magnitude earthquake sent terrified residents rushing out onto the streets of the capital, Jakarta and in towns and villages closer to the epicentre in West Java.Mr Key said he was concerned to hear about the earthquake and saddened at the loss of life. Government agencies said the death toll was likely to rise, as some affected coastal areas remained out of contact.”To my knowledge New Zealand has not been asked for assistance by the Indonesian Government, but (we) stand ready to consider any requests that might be made.”The New Zealand post in Jakarta has been busy checking the wellbeing of all New Zealanders registered with the embassy, but at this stage there is no reason to believe any New Zealanders have been killed or injured,” Mr Key said.Forty-two people were listed as missing in landslides triggered by the quake. .0 quake struck the Indonesian capital on Wednesday afternoon (local time).

Mike Jonathan, 35, and his Indonesian wife, Cinzia Puspita Rini, were in Jakarta when the 7.

The couple had been on honeymoon in Bali but cut their trip short and travelled to Jakarta yesterday en route to New Zealand after learning that Mr Jonathan’s sister had passed away suddenly. At least 42 people have died and thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

The filmmaker said they were about to lie down for a rest when the house they were staying at began to shake and his wife told him to get out.

They arrived in Indonesia last Friday and had planned to stay for another two weeks but cancelled their trip to rush home for the tangi in Taumarunui today.

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He said the houses were all built of concrete so they couldn’t take shelter under the doorway as you are told to in New Zealand

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Rachel Hunter has been dumped by her toyboy lover less than two months before they were due to wed, British tabloid The Sun reports.

Ice hockey star Jarret Stoll stunned the New Zealand model by walking out without even saying the reason, the newspaper said.

It reported that Stoll told guests by email that the star-studded ceremony on August 14 was cancelled. Everything was in place for their wedding – she had the venue, the designer dress, the guest list.

A source close to Hunter, who was formerly married to rock star Rod Stewart, told the paper: “She is absolutely devastated. It sounds like it could be a classic case of cold feet.

“She has absolutely no idea why Jarret has done this. He is a fair bit younger than her.

Hunter and Stoll met two years ago through Hunter’s son Liam, 13, a talented ice hockey player coached by Stoll. .

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Warship docks after Gulf duties

on HMNZS Te Mana Monday, 08 September 2008

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DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL: Ingrid Gerritsen, 7, greets her father, Commander Blair Gerritsen, aboard the warship Te Mana, which docked after five months in the Persian Gulf as part of Enduring Freedom, a multinational operation to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Frontline warship Te Mana has suffered potentially life-shortening damage after five months sailing in the sandstorm-swept Arabian Gulf. The nearly $700 million Anzac frigate returned to Devonport yesterday after five months in the Gulf as part of Enduring Freedom, a multinational operation to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Its Seasprite helicopter was also sandblasted, with avionics, blades and engines showing signs of damage.
"We prepared as best we could by improving all the air-conditioning performance on board.
Te Mana, which was launched in 1997, now needed to go into scheduled maintenance, Commander Blair Gerritsen told The ."
Crew were astonished at how sand infiltrated much of the ship and the helicopter. At the end of the day, you've got to operate there and put up with the conditions.
It did not rain while they were in the Gulf and crew had fought a running battle to keep sand out. Its main radar bearings have heavy sand buildup, limiting the radar's range, and the ship's weapon systems must now be cleaned.
When the ship was washed, the runoff looked like mud. Their first real chance was on the way home, when they ran into monsoon rains going into Mumbai, India.
The extent of the problem is unlikely to be known till engineers have investigated the interior, but experts on board say the ship's operational life may have been shortened. Even the helicopter engines produced "sewage-looking water".
"Welcome home and enjoy tomorrow when you embrace family and friends and those you love.
Navy chief Admiral David Ledson flew to the ship near Waitangi to give each member of the company a general service medal and the Afghanistan medal in recognition of their role in Enduring Freedom."
The ship sailed into Devonport yesterday to a Father's Day welcome. We can all take a great deal of pride in a job well done. They ran up to the flightdeck, where Commander Gerritsen hugged them for the first time in five months. First on board for a tearful hug from dad were Commander Gerritsen's children Liam, 5, and Ingrid, 7.
On the dock a crowd of about 400 had turned up to welcome friends and family home.
"I've been looking forward to this," he said.