A man left fighting for his life with severe head injuries after an assault at a party following the NRL Nines league tournament is awake and has spoken to police.

Murder victim Mellory Manning's DNA was found on a knife recovered just metres from where her body was dumped in a Christchurch river, a court heard today.

A man who was viciously assaulted at a Mt Eden party at the weekend remains in a serious but stable condition at Auckland City Hospital.

Family is at the bedside of a critically-injured 23-year-old who was seriously assaulted at a party near Eden Park last night.

His father had just savagely beaten her young son to death, yet Rosie Batty could find only compassion for the violent and disturbed ex-husband who was then killed by police

An extremely rare mutated grass pollen found on Mellory Manning's clothing matched samples taken from the Mongrel Mob gang pad where police say she was brutally murdered.

An estranged father who bashed and stabbed his son to death at a Melbourne cricket practice session started screaming "shoot me" when police arrived.

The father of a woman accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend says the prospect of enduring a retrial is disheartening.

Lucille Scollay was found guilty of manslaughter by stabbing her husband through the heart, both her family and her victim's gasped with relief.

Christchurch sex worker Mellory Manning had consumed a variety of drugs in the days and hours before she was brutally murdered, a jury has been told today.

A man left fighting for his life after an assault in a central Auckland bar was felled with a single punch he didn't see coming, say staff who witnessed the unprovoked attack.

A witness who sold drugs to slain Christchurch sex worker Mellory Manning has described hearing a "blood-curdling" scream coming from the direction of a Mongrel Mob gang pad the night Mellory Manning was killed.

Herald exclusive: A man accused of a violent assault has breached bail five times - and been released back into the community each time.

Ngatai 'Mellory' Manning was raped, bashed, and stabbed at a Mongrel Mob gang pad before her mutilated body was dumped in a river, a court has heard today.

A 16-year-old schoolboy has today admitted assaulting Auckland teen Stephen Dudley on the day a manslaughter trial over the teen's death was to begin.

The trial of a man charged with the murder of Christchurch prostitute Ngatai 'Mellory' Manning starts today.

A man accused of viciously attacking an Auckland mother on her daily pre-dinner walk failed to turn up at court today.

One mother's pain at losing her daughter was matched by another mother's anger at losing her son, as the man found guilty of murdering Rae Portman was jailed for life.

The man found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Hamilton woman Rae Portman will serve at least 21 years in jail.

Auckland crime figure Petar Vitali has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison for assaulting a young woman who believed she was his biological daughter.

Notorious Auckland crime figure Petar Vitali will be sentenced today for a brutal attack on a young woman who looked on him as a father.

Arrests have been made after four workers were attacked on Auckland's rail network in the past week, sparking a union call for better protection.

Teina Pora's grandson is just a little older than his daughter was when Pora was sent to prison in 1994 for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett two years earlier. Teina Pora with grandson Benson Bennett. Picture / Sarah Ivey

A man who stabbed a fellow partygoer through the eye with such force that the knife embedded in his skull has today been jailed for more than eight years.

Understandably, there has been much comment in the media concerning the tragedy in Dunedin involving the killing of two children by their father.

Sarah Godwin's son has been missing for 21 years - but she is sure she will see him again, despite some unwelcome news at Christmas.

The family of an Auckland man killed as he intervened in an attack five years ago have called on Kiwis to live up to his legacy.

The funeral for Bradley and Ellen Livingstone today was more akin to a festival of celebration, as family, friends and pupils dressed in bright colours as a tribute to Ellen, known for her 'quite out there' fashion sense.