Trial date to be set
A Kaipara man charged over the deaths of three of his fellow Brethren Church members - including his wife and daughter - will be back in court early next year to set a trial date. Russell Stewart, 49, briefly appeared in the Dargaville District Court on Thursday for a case review hearing and was further remanded on bail. He pleaded not guilty to seven charges of driving under the influence of alcohol causing death or injury and one of failing to remain at an accident. Suzie Stewart, 48, her daughter Sadie, 16, and family friend Jamie Wearmouth, 18, died in a fatal crash on Baylys Coast Rd on June 6 when a ute they and five others were in crashed into a tree. Stewart will re-appear in the Whangarei District Court on February 17 when his trial date is expected to be set.
Crash witnesses sought
Northland Police are seeking witnesses to a fatal crash on State Highway 1 at Mata, near Ruakaka, on Sunday, November 13. The crash between three cars and a light truck occurred about 4.40pm, just north of the roundabout, killing one of the car drivers. Police are looking for witnesses, especially the driver of a curtain-sided truck travelling north on State Highway 1 behind the blue light truck involved in the crash. Email Senior Constable Llew Smart on llewellyn.smart@police.govt.nz, reference file number 161115/0106.
Chinese ancestors
The Rawene woman who brought the story of the Ventnor shipwreck to national attention is giving a talk at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds tomorrow. The ship was carrying the bodies of 499 Chinese goldminers to their homeland for burial when it sank off Hokianga Harbour in 1902. The caskets that washed up along the west coast were buried by iwi alongside their own dead. Liu Sheung Wong's talk, called Wandering with Ancestors, will be held in the learning centre of the new Waitangi Museum at 2pm. Entry is free to Friends of Waitangi (joining costs $5 for Far North residents).