A Kiwi principal at the helm of one of a prestigious English school has flown home to defend a domestic violence charge laid by his ex-partner.

Others stood by while a young woman was being strangled and punched in her car, but five Auckland men took action.

A 27-year-old man has been granted interim name suppression after he appeared before the court over the death of a two-year-old Hawera girl.

One boy has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a West Auckland shopkeeper but a second has been cleared of the same offence.

A leading family violence expert is welcoming a move to encourage more transparency between agencies dealing with domestic abuse cases.

After half a day deliberating, the jury in the Arun Kumar trial has retired for the night.

The brother of slain North Shore woman Cissy Chen says his family is hurting at not being able to bring his sister the justice they feel she deserves.

Two years ago President Barack Obama predicted that when it came to averting mass shootings through gun control, "sooner or later, we are going to get this right".

Clementa Pinckney was busy on Thursday, not unusual for a man who was both a respected pastor and state senator in his native South Carolina.

A boy who stabbed a west Auckland shopkeeper to death was retreating and trying to defend himself at the time, his lawyer says.

A Christchurch man has today denied killing his 5-year-old autistic step-son.

United States police were last night searching for a gunman who opened fire at a historic African-American church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

The story of a 13-year-old accused's upbringing that was laced with drugs, alcohol and violence has been told in court this morning.

In an exclusive interview with the NZME.News Service, the man cleared of murdering Cissy Chen says he remained calm during the trial through constant prayer.

A piece of paper was found by police officers in the couple’s Torbay home weeks after the investigation began.

The morning Cissy Chen went missing she allegedly told a close friend that if she died her partner of eight years would be the killer.

Domestic violence charges against Chinese millionaire Donghua Liu have been dropped.

The oldest of two young boys accused of killing dairy owner Arun Kumar will not testify for his own defence.

A man who was allegedly chased away by neighbours has been charged after a 73-year-old woman was assaulted in her Auckland home.

A jury has been told the circumstantial Crown case over the murder of Cissy Chen relies on “reasoning by inference” but was warned by a judge to avoid speculation.

A man has suffered serious head injuries after an assault on Sunday evening.

The lawyer for Cissy Chen's partner said the case against his client was "100-per-cent circumstantial" and argued the pair had a loving relationship.

Any alternative explanations to Cissy Chen's partner deliberately killing her are "fanciful", the Crown has said while closing its case.

Police are yet to make an arrest after a man was seriously assaulted in Wellington last night.

The family of slain dairy owner Arun Kumar will privately mark the first anniversary of his death today.

A 14-year-old boy has admitted he lied to police about his involvement because he was scared.

A boy who was with two teens before they allegedly killed a west Auckland dairy owner says the pair were hoping to get rich.

A boy who was with a couple of teens before they allegedly killed an Auckland dairy owner will continue to give evidence today.