Two a penny

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Pair arrested for Christchurch cabbie killing

Monday, 08 December 2008

SLAIN: Abdulrahman Ikhtiari.

Cabbies tell of assault fears

Hunt on for taxi driver killers

Police recover footage of murder scene

Two teenage maleshave been arrested and charged with the murder of Christchurch taxi driver Abdulrahman Ikhtiari, police said tonight.
Securitycamera footage of twopeople fleeing the scene of the murder in the early hours of Saturday morning brought about the breakthrough this afternoon.
The pair, aged 16 and 19, will appear in the youth court tomorrow.
Ikhtiari, a 39-year-old father of five, died of a single stab wound to his chest in his taxi on Worcester Street.
Police said the footage had thrown up a lot of new information, including the registration plates of cars at the scene at the time. .
The post mortem on Ikhtiari indicates the weapon used to stab him in the chest had a blade at least 14cm long and about 2cm wide.
Police had yet to find two men believed to have been the United Taxis driver's last fare.
SECURITY
Ikhtiari's car lacked the hi-tech security system of many Christchurch taxis.
United Taxis director Trevor Ellwood said the company's lower-tech radio dispatch system was just as effective as the bigger companies and in most cases faster.
The United Taxis fleet does not have alarm systems or cameras.
"You can have GPS and cameras and all the niceties but they're $5000 per car .
"The law stipulates what the requirements are," he said…"
The firm is not a member of the Taxi Federation. It's nice to have alarm systems and everything but the guys have got to be able to activate them.
One taxi driver, who declined to be named, said the larger more recognised firms were prohibitively expensive to join, which forced people to work for less-protected operations. Drivers with member firms such as Blue Star, Gold Band and First Direct have technology and protections unavailable to drivers at other operations.
Other companies had lower subscriptions but the lack of booking work forced drivers to ply the streets for trade.
The larger companies benefited from more "radio work" phone-booked jobs that gave more stable incomes.
Over 30 taxi drivers and members of the Afghan community were at the home to lend support to the family.
Ikhtiari's home in Bryndwr was a sombre scene yesterday.
A family spokesperson, who declined to be named, expressed concern for Ikhtiari's widow who was "very frail".
A family spokesperson, who declined to be named, expressed concern for Ikhtiari's widow who was "very frail".
"She can't cope," he said.
Christchurch man Ali Tausif said Ikhtiari was known in the Christchurch Muslim community as a "very quiet, polite person".
Hagley Community College associate principal Rex Gibson said members of Ikhtiari's extended family worked at the college and Ikhtiari volunteered at the school's refugee homework programme.
Ikhtiari came to New Zealand after persecution of his Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan by the ruling Taleban.
He was aboard the container ship the MV Tampa which created international headlines when it rescued him and more than 400 other Afghan refugees from a distressed fishing vessel but then was refused access to Australian ports. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 363 7400.
– with and

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Twin undergoes revolutionary brain injury treatment

Wednesday, 03 December 2008

A DIFFERENT CHILD: Maia Friedlander hugs father Daniel.

An Aucklandtwin who was brain-damaged at birth has become the first New Zealander to undergo experimental treatment in the United States, using her own umbilical cord blood. .
While her twin sister, Ariel, hit all her developmental milestones about six months early, Maia did not learn to crawl till she was three. Despite six hours of therapy a day for three years, Maia – who was born six weeks premature – struggled to talk, walk properly or even chew her food without choking.
The breakthrough came in February when they met American mother Mary Schneider, whose son, Ryan, was the first to undergo cord blood transfusion for his brain injury at Duke University, North Carolina.
"Our lives revolved around her therapy regime but we couldn't see much improvement," her father, Daniel, said. Five years on, he is developmentally normal.
In August, Maia and her mother, Jillian, travelled to the US, where she received a two-hour infusion of her own cord blood, stored by her parents at birth.
More than 50 other children with brain injuries have since been treated through Duke's reinfusion programme. Maia now goes to kindergarten five days a week.
Within days, her concentration and coordination improved..
"She's like a different child – talking, hugging us, playing …
Mr Friedlander said the cost – about $50,000, plus $5000 for banking cord blood – was beyond most people's reach."
Five other Kiwi families are considering sending children to Duke."
However, Joanne Kurtzberg, the head of Duke's programme, cautions against seeing the treatment as a cure just yet. "We would hope to see the reinfusion procedure available to families here. Because they are an exact match to the person they are collected from, they are used to "reboot" immune systems after cancer treatment.

STEM CELL TREATMENT: Umbilical cord blood – collected at birth – contains stem cells, which have the potential to become any kind of cell. Maia's Cord Blood Miracle can be viewed on dompost. Experimental treatments are also using stem cells to treat a range of inherited disorders, type-1 diabetes and brain injuries.nz

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Parents feared ‘baby girl’ was dead

Families united in their pain

– Sunday, 28 September 2008

The parents of the woman police claim was the target of a fatal stabbing have told how they were terrified their "baby girl" had been murdered.
Devonport father of three Austin Hemmings, 45, was stabbed to death in Auckland's CBD on Thursday evening after attempting to fend off a man who was allegedly attacking a female relative.
The accused made a brief court appearance, charged with one count of male assaults female but police said more serious charges were imminent.
As Austin attempted to call police from his cellphone he was stabbed in the chest, allegedly by a man who was located the following morning at a south Auckland flat.
But yesterday her parents spoke of hearing about the Mills Lane tragedy the street where their daughter worked and "immediately" thinking she was the slain victim.
The 25-year-old woman Austin tried to help was last night in hiding with a close friend.
"I was just so shocked, so upset.
"I thought `that is my baby girl, my little girl is dead'," the mother told from her west Auckland, home.
The woman's parents had been praying since Austin's death. How could this have happened?"
The mother said the arrested man was a distant relative. He saved my daughter's life.
"We are spending much time thinking about Austin.
"My girl is the person who always helps everyone else, so to see other people coming for her rescue is just amazing. How can I ever repay that kindness," the father told .
The head of the police homicide inquiry last night confirmed the fears of the woman's family."
The Western Samoan parents said they haven't spoken to their daughter whose name is suppressed but planned to attend church as a family tomorrow.
Asked if the accused had been in a relationship with the woman, Whitley responded: "I can't make any comment about that.
"He has gone there specifically to see her," Detective Senior Sergeant Gerry Whitley said."
has learned armed police guarded the home of the woman until the accused had been apprehended.
"I would like to but that is a purely operational matter.
Meanwhile, members of Grey Lynn Samoan Methodist Church which the woman's family have attended since she was born will this morning meet and pray for Austin's family.
"We didn't want another fatality on our hands," said one police source.
He would offer to participate in Austin's funeral service.
Reverend Ioane Tuupo said the congregation had been severely affected by the tragedy but their faith in God would help them get through.
"It is not a nice feeling knowing that a member of your church could have died," Tuupo said.
"It is not a nice feeling knowing that a member of your church could have died," Tuupo said.
"She is a very courageous, supportive and helpful young lady. I rely on her in this church."
The deeply religious woman says on her social networking page that "too many" people "go around not knowing" or being "scared" of the "unknown".
Nalesoni Tupou, one of the lawyers representing the accused, last night attacked media coverage of the incident, saying he was "greatly concerned" by the public sympathy for Austin.
"I respect the loss of the father but with all the emotions running like this you have to wonder how we will get a fair trial."
Tupou had not yet discussed with his client the events of Thursday but said he was "pleased to be in custody".
Meanwhile, Austin's family wife of 25 years, Jenny, daughters Meghann, 19, and Jessica, 17, and son Gareth, 16 said they planned to scatter his ashes in Israel.
"He wanted to go to Israel," said Jenny, an art teacher at Takapuna Grammar. "He just wanted to see where a lot of the Bible happened walk where Jesus walked. So what we're going to do, he's going to be cremated and we're going to do that trip for him."
Jenny said she hoped her husband's death would inspire more people to find God.
"I want everyone to be talking about Austin … We have got too much violence in our society. The only way to change that is to change what's in our hearts.
"One of the greatest wishes in Austin's life was that people come to know God. And he had to die to get his message to the nation."
Austin's funeral will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, on Wednesday at 1.30pm.