Two a penny

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A South Australian coroner has again called for a change of furnishings at the Adelaide Remand Centre after a New Zealand man hung himself from a bunk bed with a sheet in his cell.

Delivering his findings on Friday into the death of Marceilo Marstroianni Sciascia, State Coroner Mark Johns reviewed the circumstances that led to the 29-year-old taking his own life, including the screening of the provocative New Zealand film Once Were Warriors the day before his death.

“After all, they were both of Maori descent, they both had problems in abusing alcohol, and they both were physically violent towards their female partners,” Mr Johns said.

Mr Johns said there was some indirect evidence that Mr Sciascia appeared to identify himself with the main character of the film.”

Mr Johns noted that Mr Sciascia, who moved to Australia from Hastings in Hawke’s Bay, had been distressed at being separated from his three children.

“However, it is not possible to draw any conclusion about whether the screening of the film, the day prior to Mr Sciascia’s death by his own hand, had some significant influence upon his decision to take his own life.”

The film, which is rated MA, has a scene in which a young girl hangs herself.

“He may have proceeded to kill himself whether the film had been shown or not.

The court was told Mr Sciascia had been admitted to the Adelaide Remand Centre on April 2, 2007 in relation to domestic violence offences and property damage and was found dead by prison officers on April 29 that year with a sheet wrapped around his neck that was tied to a bunk bed in his cell.

Despite the screening of any film with a rating of MA or above being prohibited in the Adelaide Remand Centre, Mr Johns said he made no criticism of the officer responsible for the “oversight”.

The coroner’s court was told corrections officers had screened Mr Sciascia on his admittance and determined he was not at risk of harming himself despite his having given two affirmative answers.

It was Mr Sciascia’s first time in prison.

“I am empowered to make recommendations that in the opinion of the court might prevent, or reduce the likelihood of, a recurrence of a (similar) event,” he said in his findings.

Mr Johns recommended that the Department for Correctional Services revise the prison stress screening form.”

– AAP

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Double-murderer John Barlow has been denied parole.

Barlow, who is serving a 14-year jail term for the 1994 murders of father and son businessmen Eugene and Gene Thomas in their central Wellington office, was convicted in a rare third trial.
The November hearing was adjourned to allow for further psychological testing, which the board said indicated he would still pose a risk to the community.
He appeared before the Parole Board on March 31, after first appearing for consideration last November.
However, the board said it did support reintegrative leave for Barlow, saying he was clearly in the reintegrative phase of his sentence.
”We are not prepared to take the risk of releasing him at this time,” the board’s decision read.”
Meanwhile, Barlow is waiting to hear the decision of the Privy Council in London after he lodged an appeal against his conviction in February.
”Release to work and graduated home leaves will be appropriate in a safe planned way at this time.
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New Zealander Rob Hamill is to be heard at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal trial of the man who ran the Cambodian Prison where his brother was killed in 1978, though his words will be conveyed only by his lawyer. .

Mr Hamill, an Olympic rower in 1996, is expected to appear at the tribunal.

Their lawyers can ask questions on their behalf of witnesses and of
Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, who ran Tuol Sleng or S21 prison where an
estimated 17,000 were tortured then executed. One crewman,
Canadian Stuart Glass, was shot dead while Mr Hamill and Briton John
Dewhirst were taken for interrogation before being killed.

His brother Kerry Hamill ended up at S-21 when the yacht he and friends
were sailing strayed into Cambodian waters in August 1978.

The trial is the first of senior leaders in the Khmer Rouge regime
under which 1.

Rob Hamill told yesterday that it was good that Duch admitted
in court yesterday that what he did was wrong, although he did claim
he was acting under orders.

Duch faces charges including crimes against humanity, breaches of the
Geneva Convention and violations of the Cambodian penal code, including
premeditated murder.7 million Cambodians died to be heard before the UN-backed
dual international Cambodian Court.

Maggie Tait travelled to Cambodia with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Maggie Tait travelled to Cambodia with the assistance of the Asia New
Zealand Foundation.
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Dixon jurors unmoved by insanity pleas

The Friday, 06 February 2009

Antonie Dixonbecame renowned for theatrical court appearances as jurors were asked to decide whether he was mad or bad.
His defence in his trials was that he was insane. However, two juries decided he was a hardened criminal who had to be locked up. As a child he was tied to a clothesline, could communicate only by barking, and showed paranoid behaviour over several years.
Dixon's horrendous upbringing was comprehensive in court.
During that trial, the court was told Dixon sometimes feigned symptoms in an attempt to mislead people about his mental health.
At his sentencing to life in prison, without the chance of parole for 20 years, at the end of his first trial in May 2005, he clapped his hands and called for the electric chair. At times he stared wild-eyed around the court-room and hid behind a bench in the dock.
He pulled up at a Papakura service station in the stolen car but found himself in "a biblical situation", with several "aggressive" men walking toward him.
At his second trial, Dixon told how, while on the run after slicing at the hands of Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with a samurai-style sword, he stopped to buy a cookie crumble ice-cream. "I let it go as long as I could, then just picked up the gun. One had horns and something behind his back, he said."
He killed James Te Aute by shooting him 10 times in the back within half a second. .

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Witnesses tell of how mum was run down

By JIM KAYES Tuesday, 03 February 2009

Ina courtroom a stone's throw from where Joanne Wang was run over while trying to recover her handbag and the $4000 in it, seven men charged with various roles in her death listened to evidence against them.
Mrs Wang was run over on June 16 last year, after shopping with her son, aged 8.
She died in hospital the next day from her injuries.
The court was told that Christopher Jacob Junior Shadrock had taken Mrs Wang's handbag from her car and tried to reverse out of the car park.
Two witnesses were questioned at a depositions hearing at Manukau District Court yesterday about exactly where they were when Mrs Wang, 39, was run over, how they were positioned in the Manukau Shopping Centre car park, and whether Mrs Wang was in front of the car that ran her down, or to the side.
Two days later, four other men are said to have moved the car Shadrock had been driving and set it alight.
When his path was blocked by a car driven by sales assistant Janice Brown, he accelerated forward, running over Mrs Wang. .
She then described how she saw Mrs Wang run over by the car.
Mrs Brown said she saw Mrs Wang chasing a car through the car park, yelling at the driver as she ran with her hands on the front of the car's bonnet.
Another witness, Fusi Sio, said he had been eating lunch with his father in their van when he heard Mrs Wang's screams. She went to Mrs Wang's aid and described how she saw "blood coming from her ears and the back of her head".
Under cross-examination he later admitted that "he wasn't too sure" whether he had seen the rear wheel go over Mrs Wang.
He also described watching the car hit Mrs Wang and said two wheels drove over her.
Shadrock, 22, is charged with the murder of the 39-year-old mother and South Auckland businesswoman, along with the theft of her handbag and money, and stealing a car.
Shadrock, 22, is charged with the murder of the 39-year-old mother and South Auckland businesswoman, along with the theft of her handbag and money, and stealing a car.
The depositions hearing, before justices of the peace Mark Sinclair and Earle Mead, is expected to finish on Thursday.
Dalton Harris, 22, was charged with theft of the handbag and money, and two unrelated burglaries.

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Women refuse refuge as a result of nearby mosque

By ESTHER HARWARD – Sunday, 01 February 2009

Muslim women are staying away from a domesitc violence crisis centre since a mosque opened next door.
The Auckland Shakti Asian Women's Centre in Onehunga helps women escape violent domestic situations but women are too scared to go because they may be recognised by their husbands or relatives attending the mosque.
Meanwhile, Housing New Zealand Corporation is paying $310 a week $4030 so far for security guards to keep vandals away from the empty building that the women could move into.
The centre has an alternative premises but cannot move in because Auckland City Council has held back planning permission for more than a year.
Women who visited the centre usually did so without telling their husbands, she said.
Centre spokesperson Shila Nair said victims were "really afraid" to go to the centre in Church St, Onehunga in case they were recognised by men worshipping at the Onehunga Islamic Mosque, which is over a boundary fence. We have had instances of women who visited our Women's Centre later accessing our refuge. "If their husbands, in-laws or any other family members or friends were to know that they have visited Shakti, life for them would be even more difficult. Staff tell them what their rights are under New Zealand law."
Most were from Middle Eastern, Africa and Asian countries that don't legislate against domestic violence. Of the calls, half of the women were recommended to visit for counselling, legal advice or training.
The crisis centre took 4800 phone calls last year on a 24 hour nationwide helpline of which 90% were about family violence. .
The housing corporation renovated another building for the women to move to after the mosque bought a building next door from the Jehovah's Witness church. It was not known when the issues would be resolved. Council resource consents team leader Ian Smallburn said the consent was "on hold" as a result of concerns about the impact of parking on neighbours, trees and stormwater.

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The centre opened a decade ago and is the busiest of Shakti's five branches in Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch, which together they help 6000 women a year escape domestic abuse

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Rescue choppers in a spin

Aviation rules ban non-urgent patient transfers

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

Recuehelicopter operators are fighting an industry crackdown that will ban them flying some patients directly to major hospitals.
The operators have warned the move could potentially cost the health service millions of dollars, put added strain on already struggling ambulance services and delay treatment for patients.
But the Civil Aviation Authority says some operators have been flouting the life or death clause, potentially endangering people living close to hospitals.
Single-engined aircraft which covers most of the rescue helicopters landing in Wellington are already officially banned from landing in built-up areas unless it is a life or death emergency.
In Wellington, operators from Palmerston North, Hastings, New Plymouth and Nelson would be unable to land on the hospital's rooftop pad, with Wellington-based Westpac rescue helicopter the only service that flies a twin-engine craft in the area. It has held a meeting with rescue helicopter operators, who have been asked to come up with proof they are operating within the law. While at least half are emergency flights, it is believed a large proportion of the rest are routine transfers. Wellington Hospital gets between 50 and 80 flights a week. "We wouldn't use the helicopter or the aircraft if it wasn't safe, full stop," said Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Trust pilot Tim Douglas-Clifford.
Operators have labelled the move "ridiculous" and say single-engine helicopters are safe."
It would mean more work for ambulance services, which would be used to pick up patients from airports or approved landing spots. "It doesn't make much difference to the operator but it makes a big difference to the patient. That pricetag would have to be picked up by the health system and donations. The alternative upgrading to twin-engine craft, which can land in congested areas would cost about $2 million for each helicopter. Any life-threatening case is exempt from the rule.
Civil Aviation rules state single-engine helicopters cannot land in a built-up area in case the engine fails and they injure people on the ground. "It will have a huge effect on the industry, there's no doubt about that.
Helilink chief pilot Alan Deal said the industry had to work with the CAA to solve the problem."
CAA's rotary wing unit manager, John Fogden, said operators had been using the life-threatening clause when they should not be to land at hospitals. It will mean that we have to find places to land, like airfields for instance, and that will create a huge ambulance logistics problem. .
The CAA called a meeting at Wellington Hospital before Christmas to inform local operators they would need to prove they were following the rules."
Westpac rescue helicopter spokesman Dave Greenberg said he thought CAA had been very reasonable.
"We'd like them to operate safely because we're underneath them, but we'd also like them to continue saving lives.

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Big maggot burger test inconclusive

By CLIO FRANCIS – Friday, 16 January 2009

Just how three maggots arrived in the middle of a Big Mac burger may never be known after an investigation into the incident proved inconclusive.
The Northland District Health board had been conducting food safety tests on a McDonald's burger following a complaint by Whangarei woman Lianne Tansley.
Tansley told The Herald on Sunday that her fifteen-year-old son Issac had discovered maggots crawling through his Big Mac on New Years Day."
"The whole patty was moving as if it was alive", she said, "It was gross.
She said when he had taken the top bun off his Big Mac burger he called out "My God Mum, look at this. "The results of our investigation as to the origin of the maggots within the food item is inconclusive, due to the storage conditions and time delay with the receipt of the food item to the Public and Population Health Unit," he said."
Health protection officer Phil Reid said the Health Board's investigation into the complaint had now finished. McDonald's Managing Director Mark Hawthorne said it was very difficult to see how larvae could hatch in the restaurant environment. We are somewhat mystified as to how these maggots could hatch in the kitchen environment," he said."The burger was 13 days old when it was received by the health board, however the report suggest the maggots were probably less than a week old.
"The Whangarei restaurant served around 2000 people on New Year's Day, and close toly 400 customers in the two hour period in which the burger concerned was purchased," he said. "Our restaurants are clean and our food processing standards are among the highest and most stringent in the industry
Mr Hawthorne said that given the large number of customers on New Year's Day in Whangarei, the cooked patties would have been held at a temperature of 85°C for only a matter of minutes.

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Big maggot burger test inconclusive

By CLIO FRANCIS – Friday, 16 January 2009

Just how three maggots arrived in the middle of a Big Mac burger may never be known after an investigation into the incident proved inconclusive.
The Northland District Health board had been conducting food safety tests on a McDonald's burger following a complaint by Whangarei woman Lianne Tansley.
Tansley told The Herald on Sunday that her fifteen-year-old son Issac had discovered maggots crawling through his Big Mac on New Years Day."
"The whole patty was moving as if it was alive", she said, "It was gross.
She said when he had taken the top bun off his Big Mac burger he called out "My God Mum, look at this. "The results of our investigation as to the origin of the maggots within the food item is inconclusive, due to the storage conditions and time delay with the receipt of the food item to the Public and Population Health Unit," he said."
Health protection officer Phil Reid said the Health Board's investigation into the complaint had now finished. McDonald's Managing Director Mark Hawthorne said it was very difficult to see how larvae could hatch in the restaurant environment. We are somewhat mystified as to how these maggots could hatch in the kitchen environment," he said."The burger was 13 days old when it was received by the health board, however the report suggest the maggots were probably less than a week old.
"The Whangarei restaurant served around 2000 people on New Year's Day, and close toly 400 customers in the two hour period in which the burger concerned was purchased," he said. "Our restaurants are clean and our food processing standards are among the highest and most stringent in the industry
Mr Hawthorne said that given the large number of customers on New Year's Day in Whangarei, the cooked patties would have been held at a temperature of 85°C for only a matter of minutes.

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Motorcyclist killed in Waikato tanker collision named

Friday, 16 January 2009

A man is dead following a collision between a tanker and three motorcycles in the Waikato yesterday afternoon.
The driver of one of the motorcycles, 43-year-old John Robin Hall of Te Awamutu, died at the scene.
Another motorcyclist was taken to Waikato Hospital suffering serious injuries after a collision with a bank while a third was treated at the scene.
The four motorcycles were riding in a line and were rounding a corner when the milk tanker was exiting a farm driveway on to Te Kawa Rd, Otorohanga, south of Hamilton at about 1.
A fourth motorcyclist was able to stop and was therefore not injured but the other three were unable to avoid crashing, police said.
Waikato Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman said Mr Hall's death brought the total number of fatalities on Waikato roads so far this year to five compared to one for the same period last year.35pm.