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Nelson man carried 100m in raging torrent
By HELEN MURDOCH – Wednesday, 26 November 2008
HELEN MURDOCH/
SWAMPED: A car belonging to retired school principal Rod McKenzie lies stuck on the edge of a weir in the Collins River, north of Nelson, yesterday.
Rod McKenzie has covered a 100m section of Nelson's flooded Collins River in record time in his car.
"One minute I was on the road; the next I was in the river," he said.
McKenzie, a retired primary school principal, was driving to Nelson from his Okiwi Bay home in torrential rain on Monday when he aquaplaned over an 8m bank into the normally slow-flowing river.
He estimated he was carried another 100m by the swollen waters.
McKenzie was tossed down the "raging, roaring torrent" for about 100m before he fled his car. The worst part was trying to grab the blackberry bushes and clamber out, the river was moving so fast," he said.
"It was only when I got out that I thought I may be in trouble. .
Picked up by a farmer who took him home for a hot shower and a change of clothes, McKenzie then continued his journey to Nelson to collect his wife and take her to the airport.
"I suspect if I had stayed with it something bad would have happened.
"I've been told it continued down the river and got jammed under a bridge for a while before it popped out," he said.
The heavy rain also trapped three Tasman District Council hydrologists in the Upper Lee Valley on Monday night and caused flooding in Golden Bay and Nelson City."
McKenzie escaped with only scratches but faces an unpleasant aftermath police yesterday told him they were considering charging him with dangerous driving and he has to figure a way to get his car out of the river.
The trio bunked down for the night in a council ute, dined on a few biscuits and watched the Upper Lee River flood over a bridge, said Doyle.
Hydrologist Martin Doyle and two of his colleagues were measuring flood and sediment flows at the proposed Upper Lee Valley dam site when the heavy rain made the ford crossings impassable.
The ranges between Takaka and Collingwood were lashed by 328mm of rain in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday.
The persistent rain was pushed into the hills above Nelson and Golden Bay by strong northerly winds, dumping 136mm above the city and 257mm above Upper Takaka. Some schools closed early, while shops and homes were sandbagged to prevent flooding as water flowed down Takaka's main street.
In Golden Bay, roads were closed, stock were rescued from low-lying areas and the army ferried stranded motorists. "We were lucky to get away without major flooding.
"People haven't seen that sort of water across the road for some time," said Golden Bay Senior Constable Crispin Lee, of the East Takaka area.30pm high tide."
Nelson came within 30 minutes of a major flood when the rain stopped just before Monday's 8.
"We were concerned about the high tide, but the rain stopped about an hour before it came in," he said.
"We were concerned about the high tide, but the rain stopped about an hour before it came in," he said.
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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 charged over McCahon theft
Thursday, 20 November 2008
DEVELOPMENT: Police have today charged a 60-year-old Wanganui man with theft of this Colin McCahon sculpture.
Police have today charged a 60-year-old Wanganui man with theft of a Colin McCahon sculpture, which was later bought at auction for $25,000 by a prominent Wellington millionaire.
The iron cross sculpture was purchased by Lloyd Morrison in 2006 during an auction at Dunbar Sloane, but seized from his Wellington home in February this year after a complaint to police. .
The cross had been given to Wanganui artist Joanna Paul, a former student of McCahon's who died in 2003, then stored by relatives in a Wanganui building, from where they claim it later disappeared before being put up for auction.
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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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Policeman’s conduct ‘truly outrageous’
– Saturday, 01 November 2008
A judge has slammed the "truly outrageous" conduct of a Christchurch police officer who elbowed a man three times in the face while he was handcuffed in a patrol car.
Judge Colin Doherty said Constable Nathan Connolly committed a "gratuitous assault" and awarded $5000 to victim Steven Fredericks.
Fredericks, 23, of Taylorville, and friend Ronnie McGee were driving out of Revingtons Hotel, in Greymouth, on September 8, 2005, when the incident occurred.30pm, they were stopped by a police patrol, which included Connolly.
Leaving the carpark about 10.
Although the judge found McGee was "obstreperous" during the incident, he concluded Fredericks was a "reticent and relatively subdued personality". McGee took a breath test, which he failed.
Earlier this month, the Greymouth District Court heard that Connolly tried to get Fredericks out of the car and a scuffle developed which ended with him being handcuffed on the ground and then put in the police car. .
As Connolly put the seatbelt on Fredericks, the officer elbowed him in the face, the judge found. His conduct carried with it a sense of retribution; of reinforced arrogance.
"Constable Connolly was in my view frustrated and wanted to teach the plaintiff a lesson as a result of his earlier resistance.
Connolly denied he hit Fredericks and a fellow officer said he had not seen anything "untoward"."
The judge said "right-minded people" would find these actions "abhorrent".
The judge said the case came down to one man's word against the other's, but that Fredericks' evidence had "the ring of truth about it".
The judge said the case came down to one man's word against the other's, but that Fredericks' evidence had "the ring of truth about it".
Fredericks' co-counsel Jonathan McCarthy said the judgment gave him the "greatest confidence in our justice system"."
A doctor said the injuries to Fredericks' face were consistent with being hit in the eye socket and nose. was told yesterday that he was taking "extended leave".
Since the incident, Connolly has moved to Christchurch. The officer was being dealt with under a human resources employment process.
Police spokesperson Jon Neilson said the case was still "in the court process in terms of a right of appeal".