Two a penny

.

An Afghan refugee, who failed in his appeal to have a police search of his home declared unlawful, is likely to take his case to the country’s highest court.

The man, who cannot be named, went to the Court of Appeal, claiming police had no right to search his home in 2000 or to give documents they seized to the Immigration Service which was now reviewing his refugee status. He had 20 days to take his case to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal judgment released yesterday.

The man had no removal or deportation order issued against him, said his lawyer Rodney Hooker.

“It would certainly get serious consideration,” he said.

He said the “odds are”‘ that the man’s case would go to the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal ruling. He also said his wife and children had been killed.

The man arrived in New Zealand in 1995 and was granted refugee status when he claimed he would be killed by the Mujahideen, the Afghan resistance army.

Police seized several documents, including a map of Sydney’s nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights.

An inquiry involving the Immigration Service, Security Intelligence Service and foreign agencies including Australian police, led to a search of his home in 2000.

The man was charged with fraud over his refugee application but the Court of Appeal said in its judgment released yesterday the Crown elected to offer no evidence because of “difficulties of proof and concern at public disquiet about the case” after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001.

The reactor was a planned target of terrorists but several terrorists were arrested and the attack was thwarted.

Mr Hooker said the man was a family man who had made New Zealand his adopted home and did not want to leave. The fraud case was dropped. .

“We are only in the very first part of the sequence of events,” Mr Hooker said.”

.

It was meant to be their special day when she stood in a church marrying “the best man in the world”. Instead, she was there yesterday to bid him goodbye.

American Danielle Granahan put on her bravest face as she and 500 others farewelled her fiance, Kiwi pilot Jeremy Clarke, 32, who died when the helicopter he was flying was involved in a mid-air crash above New York’s Hudson River on August 9.

At a funeral service on Auckland’s North Shore yesterday, Granahan, 29, insisted now was not the time to discuss “who was to blame”. He and eight others died when the sightseeing craft was struck from behind by a Piper PA-32 plane.

As the hearse of the former Rosmini College head boy was driven off she stood alone, not letting her eyes move from the coffin as she mouthed the words: “I love you. It was a time to remember the man she met three years ago and planned to marry next year in America.”

Shortly after, and speaking for the first time, she told of the gap Clarke would leave in her life. He was truly special,” she said. .”

As the funeral ended, three North Shore Aero Club helicopters hovered as mourners released yellow balloons.

“If I was to say one thing about him it is that from the day he died he has been honoured.

.

Police are annoyed at having to rescue a tramper for the second time from a snow-covered ridge in the Ruahine Ranges as dusk fell last night.

The 59-year-old Hastings man had been rescued from the same spot less than a month ago.

A spokeswoman for the Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter said it responded to a police search and rescue request to find the tramper who was experiencing difficulties.

Police say last night’s rescue cost $1500 and put the lives of the rescue team at risk. He misjudged the weather and his timing,” she told .

“It was getting dark and he was at the top of a ridge in the snow.

But police say the man had been warned not to attempt the trip in alpine conditions, Hawke’s Bay Today reported.

The man was flown to Hawke’s Bay Hospital for a check-up but there was nothing wrong with him medically.

Police said then he was not carrying the right equipment, had not planned his trip well and didn’t have the fitness level to complete the trip.

He was first rescued on July 14 from the Golden Crown area of the Ruahine Ranges after he was caught out by heavy snow, deteriorating weather and lack of daylight.

Hawke’s Bay search and rescue co-ordinator Detective Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said today the man’s actions were irresponsible at best and “have put the lives of our rescue staff at risk to get him out of situations that he was ill-equipped and under prepared to deal with”.

At that time poor weather had prevented the rescue helicopter from being used, so police search and rescue squad members and volunteers from Hawke’s Bay LandSar walked into the Ruahine Ranges and found the man about 11pm in a cold and mildly hypothermic state. He has a poor appreciation of winter conditions in the Ruahine Ranges. .”

Mr Shadbolt said he had looked into what charges could be laid but said it was unfortunate no provisions existed to take the man to court.

“It highlights the importance of good planning, good equipment and a good understanding of your capabilities and limitations in the back-country environment.

.

The wreck of sunken Tongan ferry Princess Ashika has been found but is in water too deep to dive, Tongan Police Commander Chris Kelley says.

He told a press conference that a combined Tonga, Australia and New Zealand dive team found the boat at 11am using sonar.

He said it “fits the general size and shape of the missing ship.

“It appears to be intact, in an upright position at a depth of 110 metres,” Kelley said.”

It is 11 nautical miles south southwest of Nomuka in Ha’apai.

“It is important to realise that nobody on board could still be alive.

That is too deep for Australian or New Zealand divers to reach, meaning the 93 bodies – many believed to be trapped inside – may never be reached.”

Kelley said the team had not visually confirmed the identity of the vessel but “we have a high level of confidence it is the Princess Ashika.

Dive tender HMNZS Manawanui will arrive in Nuku’alofa on Saturday with a deep diving remote operated vehicle.”

Due to bad weather the operation has now been suspended and the forecast is not good for the next couple of days.

The Tongan ferry sank a week ago with atleast 149 peopleaboard.

“This underwater vehicle will provide images that will give 100 percent certainty to the identity of the vessel,” Kelley said. They include 33 women and 10 children who were sleeping on the lower indoor decks.Two bodies and 54 survivors have been found, while the 93 missing are presumed drowned.Yesterday a combined Tongan Navy, New Zealand Navy and Australian Navy operation located a rope floating which led to the wreck.Yesterday a combined Tongan Navy, New Zealand Navy and Australian Navy operation located a rope floating which led to the wreck.

Meanwhile, the Tongan Legislative Assembly has formed a select committee to begin examining legislation around a royal commission to examine the ferry disaster.

This will provide an increased search and diving capability to the operation.

NOT SEAWORTHY

A surveyor in charge of carrying out checks on the Tongan ferry Princess Ashika has saidthe craft was not seaworthy.

Its members include King George Tupou V’s younger brother, who was a former prime minister and who is known as “His Serene Highness” Prince Tu’ipelehake.

.Mosese Fakatoa, who teaches at the Tongan Maritime School, told 3News the boat was not seaworthy and that he never had a chance to finish his report on it

.

Homes across Melbourne have been raided and arrests made in a joint counter-terrorism operation reportedly targeting Islamic suicide bombers.

Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police swooped on homes in Glenroy, Carlton, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston, Epping and Colac at about 4.

More than 400 officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police, NSW Police, the NSW Crime Commission and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) were involved in the operation.30am earlier today, executing19 search warrants.

Police have set up a crime scene at the corner of View and Glen streets, Glenroy, in Melbourne’s north.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said there had been a number of arrests, butwould not say how many.

It said the raids involved a suspected terrorist cell of Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese backgrounds.

The Australian newspaper earlier today reported that national security agencies had uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists to launch a suicide attack on an Australian army base, which was understood to be Holsworthy Barracks on Sydney’s western outskirts.

It also said the cell had been inspired by the Somalia-based terrorist movement al-Shabaab, which had connections with al-Qaeda.

The report said members of the group had been observed carrying out surveillance at the army base and other suspicious activity around defence bases in Victoria.

“It is understood the men plan to kill as many soldiers as possible before they are themselves killed.

“Authorities believe the group is at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Australian army base, using automatic weapons, as punishment for Australia’s military involvment in Muslim countries, ” the Australian said in its unsourced report.

An AFP spokeswoman earlier today confirmed its officers had joined the raids.”

The investigation, dubbed Operation Health, involving 150 members of the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, was launched in January, the report said.

The spokeswoman said more information would be available later earlier today.

”The AFP and Victoria Police can confirm the execution of a number of search warrants earlier today as part of a joint counter-terrorism operation,” she said. .

She was unable to confirm the News Ltd report

.

The Government will not be pressured by the United States to send the Special Air Service (SAS) back to Afghanistan, Prime Minister John Key says.

The US has put more pressure on its allies to boost their contribution in Afghanistan and has warned New Zealand through its Nato ambassador that it should fight as a “partner and ally” in case it ever needs US military support.

Ambassador Ivo Daalder told a New Zealand journalist visiting Afghanistan that New Zealand should be fighting the Taleban and should consider its relations not just with the US, but with other allies such as Australia. Wouldn’t it be good for a country like Holland or Canada or Slovakia or the US to be there?” Daalder said.

“God forbid there be a threat directly to New Zealand.

Daalder had merely been stressing that members of the international community needed to support one another, she said.

A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Wellington said the US had been at pains not to pressure any of its allies over Afghanistan.

“We understand that this is a decision for the New Zealand Government and for New Zealanders,” she said.

“I think you’ve got to take those comments with a grain of salt,” Key said.

Key said yesterday that Daalder’s comments were “a little gung-ho”, and New Zealand would make its own decisions.

“I’m reasonably relaxed about the comments that are being made. “It’s quite clear the Americans have asked all of their Nato and ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] partners to contribute greater effort to Afghanistan to stabilise the position there.”

Asked what he meant, Key said: “Well, only in the sense that read the wrong way they could be implied as putting pressure on New Zealand. They are a little gung-ho, but I’m reasonably relaxed about it. .”

He said the Cabinet would decide on whether to send the SAS back to Afghanistan by mid-August, “but that decision will be made in what we deem to be the best interests of New Zealand”. Whatever decision we make has to be made here in New Zealand,” he said. “We are able to say `no’. They are the people entitled to that answer, not anybody else.

“I answer to the New Zealand public.

“Whether we agree or not is something Cabinet has to consider, but my view is I am somewhat sympathetic to the position on the basis that we send New Zealanders all around the world and they are in harm’s way,” he said.”

Key said he was sympathetic to the US request. I can’t see how that is in New Zealand’s best interests. “What is the counter-factual? If the world doesn’t get on top of the position in Afganistan, the counter-factual is it becomes an even bigger hotbed for global terrorism.”

.

Killers will lose the right to claim provocation as a defence after murderer Clayton Weatherston’s attempt to smear his victim.

It is understood Justice Minister Simon Power wants the controversial defence scrapped as soon as possible and will announce his intentions today.

Weatherston, 33, was found guilty in the High Court at Christchurch yesterday of murdering his former girlfriend Sophie Elliott, 22.

Should provocation be scrapped as a defence for murder? below.

He said he was provoked by their tumultuous relationship and because she had attacked him with a pair of scissors.

He had admitted inflicting 216 stab and cutting wounds on her in the bedroom of her Dunedin home on January 9 last year, but pleaded not guilty to murder.

“There was no provocation in this case, no provocation from Sophie,” her father, Gil, said. .. “That was all fabricated . She didn’t have time to provoke him..

“We’ve thought about it a lot over the last few weeks – probably there’s not … very many murders where provocation is justified but however, in our society it’s never justified – thou shalt not kill and that’s the bottom line.”

Her mother, Lesley, told Radio New Zealand that said she believed there was no room in the legal system for provocation.

“As far as we were concerned, up until the trial, provocation hadn’t really been mentioned – if it had been it certainly wasn’t a massive issue.”

She said they were surprised at accusations that Sophie had made the first attack on her killer.

“[Sophie] doesn’t have another chance and I don’t see why he should.”

Mrs Elliott told Radio New Zealand she didn’t believe in capital punishment but thought Weatherston should spend his life in prison.”

.

“I’ve struggled… a lot over the last year with… forgiveness and I will never be able to forgive him for what he’s done

.

Wild weekend weather continued to cause havoc today with part of State Highway 10 in the Far North collapsing under the weight of a major landslide.

Police were alerted to the slip when a truck close toly rolled off the road about 6am, Senior Sergeant Shane Mulcahy of northern police communications said.

Drivers in Otago and South Canterbury were being warned to take care this morning as black ice made travelling treacherous.

The highway was now closed and roading authorities were making their way to the scene.

The MetService has also issued a snow warning for the Rimutaka Hill Rd north of Wellington.

Snow and ice also closed SH1 at the Desert Road, and a snow warning remained in place. However there was still expected to be icy patches on the Desert Rd.

It said light snow was possible this morning on both roads but said little if any snow was expected to accumulate.

The deep low that brought the severe weather was expected to move slowly away from the country this morning, the MetService said. .

A strong wind warning has also been lifted for eastern parts of the Bay of Plenty, with gales easing though gusty southerlies expected to ease during the day.

It has since lifted a heavy rain warning Gisborne, with only around 25mm of rain expected by midnight.

Gusty southerlies which have buffeted Taupo are to settle gradually while heavy rain is no longer predicted in Napier.

The weather is also expected to ease around Taupo and Hawke’s Bay.

GIRL KILLED

The severe weather claimed the life of 15-year-old Danielle Anne Finlayson, who was killed early yesterday morning when a tree fell on a caravan she was sleeping in, at her home in Whangapara, 23km northwest of Whangarei.

However, rain is still forecast to fall in the ranges north of Napier.

Danielle was with two friends when the incident happened at 12.

Authorities who rushed to the scene said the incident could have resulted in a triple fatality.

Veteran volunteer fire brigade chief Snow Buckton told The New Zealand Herald it appeared a branch from a large puriri tree crashed into the caravan where Danielle was sleeping after the tree and a tree hut were blown over.50am.

“I was thinking how lucky, I suppose, if you want to call it that, that we didn’t go to a triple fatality,” he said. Danielle was crushed under the branch and died almost immediately but the two friends escaped. There was nothing we could do to help save her,” he said.

“Obviously the family, (on our) arrival, were quite devastated.

.

A 62-year-old woman is in a comfortable condition in hospital in Greymouth after being trapped in her car in remote bush for two days.

Searchers found Alison McDonald in her blue Toyota Corolla between Arthur’s Pass and Otira early earlier today after she crashed down a five metre bank on Friday.
She was dehydrated and probably looking forward to a good night’s sleep, some warm food and plenty of fluids, he said.
A Grey Base Hospital spokesperson said she had been knocked about when the vehicle rolled and suffered bruising to her ribs and lung area.”
The alarm was raised on Friday after Ms McDonald failed to reach her Greymouth home after leaving Christchurch that morning.
“I think once she gets that then no doubt her condition will improve.
Ms McDonald’s 21-year-old granddaughter found her when searching on foot with other family and friends, Newstalk ZB reported.
Police drove the route and a helicopter swept the area but were unsuccessful.
Her friend Tina Vincent said Ms McDonald had some leftover food and drink with her and stayed alive by keeping warm, thinking positive and praying.
She had managed to undo her seatbelt, but had not been able to get out of the car and had spent the entire time on broken glass.
She had amazed friends and family with her strength, Ms Vincent said.
–

Ad Feedback –>
loadAd(’300×250′,’STORYBODY’,300,250);

.

Slippery fugitive William Stewart is styling himself “Billy the Hunted One” and appears to be enjoying his new-found notoriety.

A Teddington farmer, whose property was broken into by the 47-year-old, showed Stewart’s table-top calling card yesterday.

Stewart, who broke into the farm’s smoko room and helped himself to a meal the weekend before last, had carved his thanks into the dining table.

Stewart has been on the run since early February.

“Thanks guys, Billy the Hunted One,” he wrote.

He has five warrants for his arrest and is thought to have committed a string of burglaries and car thefts while on the run.

He has not been seen since he picked up hitchhikers in Hororata more than a week ago.

Police believed his latest crime was to swap a stolen car for a 2008 Hilux in Waddington, central Canterbury, on Tuesday.

“He helped himself to a nice meal of hot pies and coffee and wrote a thank-you note carved into the table.

The Teddington farmer, who declined to be named, said Stewart had been “sleeping rough” in the hills towards Gebbies Pass behind the property before he ventured down to the farm’s sheds.

“It was more that he had been watching and seeing where the keys were kept,” the farmer said.”

The fact that the door had not been forced but was opened using keys hidden on the property was unnerving.

The farmer said it was clear Stewart was “having a lot of fun and games”.

After carving his thanks, Stewart stole one of the farm motorbikes and blasted through a police cordon towards Governors Bay early on March 22.

However, police had called his antics “silly”.

However, police had called his antics “silly”. .

The Teddington farmer said Stewart, who had popped up in Tai Tapu the following day he evaded police in Governors Bay, obviously had some bushcraft skills as it was a long hike over the hills