Rob Kidd

A woman saved her own life and that of the man trying to kill her after wriggling through the window of a caravan quickly filling with gas, a court has heard.

A Dunedin woman who slammed into another motorist while high on a cocktail of drugs, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, has narrowly avoided imprisonment.

A man who allegedly led police on a lengthy chase and was eventually bitten by a police dog will apply for bail today.

A Dunedin woman who committed "staggering" violence in the attempted car-jacking of an elderly nun and her brother will give birth to her third child in prison.

A man who attacked his pregnant partner after claiming the baby was not his has been jailed for 22 months.

A judge has criticised police and awarded a Dunedin man $130,000 after he was cleared of sex charges following ''four years of hell''.

A woman has tearfully pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the death of a Dunedin man.

Two men who cooked up a story and tried to blackmail a woman out of $5000 have been locked up.

A man who has spent five years in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl in a library car park and grooming four other teens denies the offending.

A Dunedin thief who stole bulk packs of rubbish bags to order has since cleaned up his act, his lawyer says.

A man who smashed up 10 Dunedin grave sites was doing burnouts ''in honour'' of his dead friend, a court has heard.

A man who leaped out of the dock and made a failed escape attempt from court has been similarly unsuccessful with an appeal.

A nine-time drink-driver has been jailed for a year and slammed by a judge as "a menace to the community".