Police have confirmed that they knew of the dark past of convicted killer Jeremy McLaughlin, but were unable to tell anybody about it.

The mother of an Australian teenager killed by the man convicted of murdering Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss has described him as "evil".

Jeremy McLaughlin, found guilty today of murdering Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss, had also killed a child in Australia.

The man accused of strangling Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss before torching her family home took the stand today to "clarify events" around her death.

The flatmate of the man accused of murdering Christchurch teenager Jade Bayliss has today pleaded guilty to a charge of being an accessory after the fact of burglary and arson.

The trial of the man accused of murdering Jade Bayliss will reconvene in the High Court in Christchurch on Monday.

Paramedics who declared murdered Christchurch teen Jade Bayliss dead at the scene did not find any signs of smoke inhalation or burning on her body, a court heard today.

Jeremy McLaughlin loved the mother of the 13-year-old girl he's accused of murdering, but the love was unrequited, a court heard today.

Murdered schoolgirl Jade Bayliss had "no respect" for her mother's boyfriend, and used to mock his speech impediment, a court has been told.

The head teacher at a Northland kindergarten has made a plea to the community to help catch the culprits who are destroying their playground with vandalism that now includes an arson attack.

Forty years after 15 people died in the firebombing of Brisbane's Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub, controversy and conspiracy theories still surround what was until the Port Arthur massacre, Australia's worst mass murder.

A Rotorua woman whose home was torched by her ex-partner is shocked he has been released from jail after serving just over one-third of his sentence.

Three houses worth a total of almost $2.5 million in the Auckland suburb of Westmere will have to be rebuilt after an arson attack on one being renovated.

A suspected arson at a beautiful but remote Northland settlement has revived grievances over land ownership.

A teenager accused of burning down a family home on Christmas Day has spoken for the first time.

Arsonists and "idiots" defied fire bans yesterday as at least five suspicious fires stretched firefighters to the limit.

Fires raged up and down the country yesterday stretching emergency services to "maximum capacity".

A former lover has admitted setting fire to his ex-partner's house and torching her car after failing to win her back.