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Burglar-on-camera gets drug rehab sentence
A man caught on video by a householder leaving an Avonhead address he had just burgled will be allowed to serve home detention at Odyssey House. Brendon James Smith, 44, was caught after the...
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Facebook phone robberies alleged
A man alleged to be Aranui’s Facebook phone flogger was remanded in custody on five aggravated robbery charges in the Christchurch District Court. Nicali Joseph Stepancic, 21, a labourer from Aranui,...
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Boy’s detention may breach ‘spirit’ of UN Convention
A judge has ruled that detention of a child needing care at protection at a youth justice facility near Christchurch was lawful, but may breach the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights...
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Cow screamed during beating, trial told
A farm worker said she heard a cow scream during a beating by farm manager Carl Ryan McNaught who has gone on trial on animal ill-treatment charges. The Ministry of Primary Industries is alleging that...
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Engineering ‘confusion’ cited at tribunal
There was “considerable confusion” by different parties over the structural reliability of the Colombo Street building where falling masonry caused deaths in the February 2011 Christchurch quake, the...
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Allegation of blackmail at cow illtreatment trial
An accusation of blackmail by the “whistleblower” and main prosecution witness has been made at the Christchurch trial of a dairy farm manager accused of cow ill-treatment. Twenty-nine-year-old Carl...
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Man admits raids on hostels
Nuisance raids on backpacker hostels around Christchurch have left a 31-year-old burglar in custody and facing a likely jail sentence. Thirty-one-year-old Michael Allan Burgess told police he was under...
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Guilty verdicts in tail breaking trial
Canterbury farmer Carl Ryan McNaught has been urged to get anger management counselling before his sentencing on cow ill-treatment charges in February, or face possible prison or disqualification from...
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Daring burglar undone by investigation
A daring night time burglar was undone by a fingerprint, a Facebook post, and by failing to change his clothing after an afternoon cafe visit where he scoped out the premises. Adam Shay Sparks, 35, had...
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Final sitting at historic court house
Family Court judges and former judges, lawyers, and court staff paid tribute to the historic Armagh Street court building at a final sitting ahead of the move to the new Justice and Emergency Service...
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Blackmailer’s suppression bid refused
A blackmailer’s request for final name suppression has been rejected by Christchurch District Court Judge Raoul Neave as he imposed a home detention sentence. Judge Neave noted that the victim of Brett...
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Two charged with setting car alight
Two men have been remanded in custody on charges of arson after a car was allegedly set alight in the red zone in Burwood early on Monday. The men appeared before Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch...
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Imposing judicial woodwork makes a final appearance
Christchurch QC Nigel Hampton told High Court justices it was “beyond belief” that the city was losing its great judicial canopy as the courts move to the new Justice and Emergency Services Precinct....
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Suppression lifts on meth importation accused
Name suppression has lifted on two men charged with a $50 million methamphetamine importation from Mexico, and they have been remanded in custody again. Michael Harrison-Cooper, 31, and Johnathon Seal,...
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Crime spree admitted
File image. © Andrew Bardwell A Canterbury man faces a long jail term after admitting 44 charges from a crime spree that ended with a police pursuit in September. Matthew John Woods has agreed that...
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‘Party’ charge denied
A woman who allegedly gave teenagers a “safe place to party” in a barn, has pleaded not guilty to allowing premises to be used for the consumption of alcohol. “Mamma Doof” Theresa Anne Soper, a...
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Sentencing for dealers of ‘insidious’ drug
A judge told two meth dealers they were part of an “insidious industry” that was wreaking havoc on parts of the community. He then sent one to jail for three years, and granted the other a home...
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Former Papanui Club supervisor admits theft
A former Papanui Club supervisor has admitted stealing cash and is negotiating a settlement with the club to repay the money. No sentencing date has been set while the negotiations are going on, and...
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Judges in talks about in-court security cams
Christchurch judges are in talks with the Ministry of Justice about in-court video cameras recording all the proceedings at the new Justice and Emergency Services Precinct. The judges raised the issue...
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Total 31 years jail terms for gang slash attack
Jail terms totalling 31 years 9 months have been imposed on three Bandidos gang associates and the woman who instigated the planned stabbing of man she had been due to marry next day. The bloody...
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