A Northland woman previously jailed for helping a police killer avoid arrest, and now facing a second breach of release conditions, has failed to show up at court. Natalie Jane Bracken, 31, was scheduled to appear in the Kaitāia District Court to enter a plea to the breach charge on Monday. But there was no sign of her. Judge Deidre Orchard issued a warrant to arrest. Bracken was sentenced last October in the High Court at Auckland to 12-months imprisonment after being found guilty by a jury of being an accessory after the fact to an offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The charge arose after she drove 25-year-old Eli Bob Sauni Epiha away from the scene where he fatally shot Constable Matthew Hunt during an incident in West Auckland in June 2020.
The nature of this latest alleged breach by Bracken is not yet known.
North reports 21 new Covid cases
Northland recorded 21 new Covid cases on Monday. The Northland District Health Board is shifting to a new reporting format this week meaning the specific locations of Monday's cases were unavailable. Nationally, 981 new community cases were reported yesterday with the majority in Auckland and Waikato. The Ministry of Health reported a Covid case was in Whangārei Hospital. However, the district health board clarified further saying they are a historic Covid case unwell but not with Covid. They expected the discrepancy would be resolved by the end of Monday. Thirty-nine people outside of Northland were in hospital with the virus - mainly in the Auckland region. However, Waikato, Rotorua and Wellington had a hospitalisation each, and Christchurch two.
Second suspicious fire
Firefighters battled a second suspicious blaze in as many weeks on the Karikari Peninsula. The fire started in dense scrub beside Tahanga Rd, Lake Ohia, about 12.40pm on Monday. The Advocate understands the fire was so fierce the first brigade on the scene had to pull back from Tahanga Rd and leave the firefighting to helicopters. Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Northland commander Wipari Henwood said the blaze was being fanned by a strong northeasterly wind. It covered about 2ha when the alarm was raised but by 5pm was likely to have spread to 20ha. The fire, in scrubland next to a Landcorp farm, was being fought by four helicopters late on Monday afternoon. Two ground crews were on standby but no one was fighting the fire on the ground due to its inaccessibility. The blaze was ''definitely suspicious'', Henwood said. Police and FENZ investigators were involved.
