Crime

A would-be thief ran off bare-chested into the frosty night after being disturbed in a Cromwell home's garage this week, police say.

A 19-year-old Auckland man killed a kitten with an empty beer bottle because he "didn't like cats", a court has been told.

A Wanganui man has been jailed for four years after arranging a fake drug deal which ended in the brutal beating and BB gun shooting of another man.

Police say they are trying to find out why two British tourists were in a crime-ridden public housing complex late at night before they were fatally shot over the weekend, allegedly by a 16-year-old boy.

Five youths have been referred to Youth Aid and another youth will appear in the Dunedin District Court this week, after a spate of burglaries in North Dunedin.

Cars parked by hopeful owners at Oamaru's unofficial car sales yard at Awamoa Park were targeted by thieves on Saturday night.

Two teenagers have been arrested and charged for carrying out a string of burglaries in Bay of Plenty.

A mystery woman who visited a suspect in the grisly murder of Wellington man Matthew Hall may hold the key to solving the crime, police say.

A Manawatu teen was today jailed for eight years and three months for the attempted murder of a Taihape policeman last year.

An Auckland man accused of killing his former partner, whose dismembered body was found in the Waitakere ranges west of Auckland, has appeared briefly in court today.

Former Olympic rower Rob Hamill takes a step closer in his quest for justice for his murdered brother Kerry tomorrow.

A woman stabbed yesterday during an attempted bag snatch near Hamilton Lake is to be interviewed by police today.

A woman was attacked in what police believe was a sexually motivated assault in Lower Hutt yesterday.

It may not be something to be proud of, but when it comes to crime, Australia does it that much better than New Zealand.

A comedian accused of sexually abusing a young girl has pleaded guilty to committing an indecent act on a child -- a lesser offence to what he was initially charged with.

Sean James Donnelly, who killed his former partner's toddler because she wouldn't listen, was sentenced to seven years' jail for manslaughter today.