Two a penny

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A Taupo man is to stand trial for murdering his five-week-old baby son, after a depositions hearing today found he had a case to answer.

Adam Christopher Lock, 21, pleaded not guilty in Taupo District Court to murdering JayRhis Ian te Koha Lock-Tata in March.

He was remanded in custody for a callover in the High Court at Rotorua on October 8. He also denied two charges of assaulting a female. .

The prosecution said that Lock assaulted JayRhis after being left alone in charge of him in the family’s Taupo home on March 5.

Lock sat quietly beside his solicitor Bill Lawson as 46 witness statements were handed up to the court today.

He died in Auckland’s Starship hospital on March 7 after being taken off life support.

The baby’s mother, Shannel Tate wept while giving evidence yesterday.

Two videos were also received as evidence by Community Magistrate Robyn Patterson.

Ms Tate said the baby had been unsettled during the night but was asleep when she left the home. She explained that she had left JayRhis at home with Mr Lock for a short time.

She rushed home and found ambulance officers in her bedroom trying to resuscitate the child.

Ms Tate was at a neighbour’s house when she saw an ambulance at her address.

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An elderly man has been dragged to his death after his foot became trapped as he attempted to get off a train in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket.

The man, who was believed to be in his 70s, slipped as he was getting off the train at the Newmarket station.

His foot became stuck and he was dragged for several metres by the train until it stopped just under the Newmarket Broadway overbridge, police said.15pm.

Emergency services and Ontrack workers arrived at the scene shortly after 1.

Newmarket Business Association chief executive Cameron Brewer said he had never had any complaints about the safety of the temporary platform on Kingdon Street at Newmarket station.

Police and rail workers were removing the body this afternoon.

“It has been operating for over 18 months, since the old station was decommissioned. . In fact people have been calling for the platform to be made permanent because it has been working well,” he said.

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Climate, travel and unity in Sydney talks

By DENISE McNABB and TRACY WATKINS – Monday, 02 March 2009

Climate change, stimulating tourism and a single economic market are high on Prime Minister John Key's agenda during a two-day visit to Sydney.
He is at his first annual bilateral prime ministers meeting with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
On turning the Tasman into a domestic market for travellers, Mr Key said work had been going on for some time.
Mr Key said after arriving yesterday afternoon with his wife, Bronagh, that both countries were working through climate change legislation and there was potential to advance common rules on emissions trading.
"Why wouldn't you want to make that a painless experience?"
He would also talk to Mr Rudd about differing rules and regulations in business and other sectors such as banking.
Australia was New Zealand's largest tourist market, with a million tourists a year.
The meeting between Mr Key and Mr Rudd follows a breakthrough free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the Asean countries Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.
Today, Mr Key will continue his meeting with Mr Rudd and other Australian ministers before lunch with the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.6 billion in trade.
Asean, New Zealand's third-largest export market, has grown 121 percent since 2000 and is worth $4.
Trade Minister Tim Groser said the deal provided for 99 percent of New Zealand's trade to key Asean markets being duty free eventually. Globally, it accounts for more than $2 trillion.
While important in monetary terms, the deal is also important in the signal it sends at a time when governments are under pressure to wind back the liberalisation of trade, to protect jobs and industries.
Labour's trade spokeswoman, Maryan Street, said even with the global downturn, the "sheer volume" of consumers in Asean markets made it an important deal for New Zealand. .
Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny said it sent a signal that free trade, not protectionism, was the best way to respond to the economic crisis.

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"[They] are talking up the benefits to the primary production sector, citing quite fanciful predictions of the likely returns", she said, but they were downplaying the impact of the deals on the services and manufacturing sectors

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‘Powder keg’ prisoner recaptured

Friday, 13 February 2009

An escaped prisoner has been caught in central Hamilton after three weeks on the run.
Arai Hema, 30, was caught last night. He disappeared from a work party at Auckland Prison on January 22.
Hema was a long-term inmate who had reached the point where he was under consideration for parole and his motivation for escaping baffled police. Police dogs tracked his scent to a nearby road where they believe he was picked up by a waiting vehicle.
Hema is serving an 11 year sentence for the attempted rape of a 16-year-old Napier girl and the attempted murder of 76-year-old Bruce Butler, who attempted to intervene.
He was due to be eligible for parole in September next year. .
However, he was regarded as a minimum security prisoner prior to his escape.
He was also serving a further six years for attacking prison guards in 2004.

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Holly Victoria born in a tunnel

Saturday, 31 January 2009

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WORTH A TOOT: Dan and Liv Johnston with their daughter Holly, who was born in Wellington’s Mt Victoria Tunnel.

Liv and Dan Johnston did not have a middle name for their unborn daughter Holly – but the decision was made for them when she was born in Wellington's Mt Victoria Tunnel.
Holly Victoria Johnston was born about 1.
"We were completely freaked out," Mr Johnston said.50pm yesterday as her parents raced through the tunnel from their Roseneath home to Wellington Hospital. I'm screaming at her to not push. . I couldn't go too fast because the guy in front of me was doing 40 kmh, so I'm flashing my lights and frantically waving at him to speed up."
But not Holly, who was born on the back seat of the car, where Mrs Johnston was lying, as her dad pulled into a side road at the end of the tunnel. I think he slowed down more.
The Johnstons returned home last night, and if anything, the drama solved a naming problem.
There were initial concerns that she was not breathing, but an ambulance arrived within minutes and took the family to hospital, where she was found to be in perfect health.
Other babies named for the circumstances of their birth include one born at a Shell station, named Michelle, and a woman who gave birth in her car and named her son Micah (my car). "We didn't have a middle name so it's going to be Victoria it will make a good story when she grows up," Mrs Johnston said.

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Firefighters battle big blaze in Auckland

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Up to 80 firefighters are battling a large blaze at an abandoned cool store building in Auckland.
The fire, at the Southdown Freezing Works building on Hugo Johnston Drive in Penrose, began just before 6pm.
The three storey building was engulfed in flames and the firefighters and support crew were working to control the fire from outside as it was not safe to enter the building, northern fire communications shift manager Mau Barbara told .
Fire service assistant regional manager Peter Wilding said the building was a "large complex comprising many old buildings".
It was reported nearby factories were being threatened by the blaze.
The old structure was unsound and firefighters were "firing water into the building" and using aerial trucks with ladders to get higher.
The fire was gradually spreading along the complex, he said.
An aerial truck arrived from Hamilton to help and other engines had been "shuffled around" to provide cover throughout Auckland.
They asked the public to stay away from the area.
Police said the area was blocked off from the intersections of Great South Rd and Vestey Drive and Great South Rd and Sylvia Park Rd.
No one was believed to be injured. .

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Hutt crash ‘terrible waste of young lives’

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

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FAMILY’S LOSS: Sharon Shore with a photo of her son, Brendon-Lee Mehlhopt, and his girlfriend, Jenna Mangin. Leaning on the car are, from left, William Higgins who survived the crash, Stacey Boyle (sister) and Dylan Albert (Brendon’s best friend).

Ayoung man who had just learned to walk again and a father-to-be were the victims of a high-speed Hutt Valley car crash.
Kyle John Gregor, 22, died when the Subaru WRX he was driving hit a power pole close to the Stokes Valley roundabout on Eastern Hutt Rd about 7pm last Thursday.
The family of one of the men say they hope the tragedy serves as a lesson to drivers this holiday season. An 18-year-old passenger received minor injuries.
His front-seat passenger, Brendon-Lee Roy Mehlhopt, 20, died 24 hours later in Wellington Hospital's intensive care unit. Police say the crash was a "terrible waste of young lives" that could easily have been prevented. "He had a great outlook, he'd do anything for everybody .
Mr Mehlhopt's aunt, Selina Davis, said more than 30 people were at her nephew's bedside at Wellington Hospital as he died on Friday night after suffering two strokes…"
A bulldozer driver, Mr Mehlhopt spent time working in Australia before he was hit by a machine and close toly died a year ago, Ms Davis said. I don't think words could describe what an amazing person he was.
After losing seven litres of blood and spending hours on the operating table, he survived and spent six months learning to walk again.
After losing seven litres of blood and spending hours on the operating table, he survived and spent six months learning to walk again." Mr Mehlhopt loved cars and drinking herb liqueur Jagermeister.
"That's actually what Brendon would have wanted – one last lap around town.
However, there was no animosity toward the driver because "they were all friends, they were all responsible".
Ms Davis said the family understood the young men had been drinking and decided to go out for a "tiki tour" of the area when the crash happened, she said.
Mr Gregor, a father of one, was due to become a parent again in two weeks' time, according to his death notice. .
Sergeant Bruce Farley said the crash had the hallmarks of many similar tragedies: young men, high speed and a high-performance car.
Family described him as an "out-there" personality who loved life and demanded attention when he walked into a room.

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The car had "under-passed" another vehicle before the driver lost control, slid off the road, through a fence and into a power pole