Two of Hone Harawira's nephews will go to trial over an alleged assault on a 12-year-old boy.

A man who helped kidnap murdered woman Rae Portman last year was threatened with death if he did not assist, a court has heard.

Jurors hearing the trial against a pensioner accused of murdering a service station worker in 1979 have been dismissed until Monday.

In his final moments, Rodney Tahu shouted for help and ran across a darkened service station forecourt as a stranger took aim at him with a .22 revolver.

The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering a service station worker in 1979 will need to decide whether the killing was murder or manslaughter.

The trial of a man accused of gunning down a Turangi service station attendant more than 30 years ago has been adjourned until tomorrow because of a lack of jurors.

A man accused of killing a Turangi service station attendant more than 30 years ago has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder.

Police yesterday descended on a rural Rotorua property as part of the investigation into the murder of roadworker George Taiaroa a month ago today.

The last person sent to prison for the killing of pizza delivery man Michael Choy is about to be released - after breaking prison rules and becoming listed as a prison drug user.

Two brothers from the rock-reggae band Kora have been in trouble with police this week.

One of Auckland's top police officers is being investigated by fellow police.

Evidence of how teenager Hayden Miles was cut into 12 pieces before being dumped in two Christchurch graveyards proved too much for one juror yesterday in the murder trial of Gavin John Gosnell.

Stabbing her long-term lover seven times in the back with a peeling knife was an "utterly irrational response" to seeing him with his wife, a judge told Gloria Cherrington.

A Rotorua woman has been sentenced to four months' jail after her pitbull attacked a toddler - "degloving'' the child's forehead.

Those who think the University of Otago has gone too far in tackling problem drinking should study elsewhere, the chairwoman of a group tasked with improving the student drinking culture says.

A man who visited the Christchurch flat the morning after Hayden Miles died says he can't forget the dead boy's face.

A judge has asked if the police were being used as a "tool" in a domestic dispute involving a public relations executive and a property developer.

Hayden Miles was a "difficult" child whose behavioural issues saw him put into foster care before he was killed, his mother told a court today.

Murder accused Gavin Gosnell asked a neighbour if he'd ever shared a room with a killer around the time teenager Hayden Miles was killed, a court heard today.

The girlfriend of the man accused of murdering Christchurch schoolboy Hayden Miles was threatened with the same fate if she told police.

The man accused of bashing teenager Hayden Miles to death also tried to break his arms and legs on the night of the attack, the alleged murderer's ex-girlfriend says.

A judge slammed New Zealand's binge drinking culture as he sentenced a promising league player to nine years in jail for a "brutal" alcohol-fuelled attack.

EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING. The grisly details emerged on the opening day of the High Court trial of Gavin John Gosnell, 28, who denies murdering 15-year-old Hayden Miles.

Christchurch teenager Hayden Miles was killed before he was dismembered and buried at two city cemeteries, a court heard today. (Explicit content warning)

A 26-year-old man has been hospitalised with stab wounds after being attacked by a group of youths on Friday night.

The family of murdered teenager Emily Longley are preparing to return to London for her killer's appeal, hoping it will bring some closure to the nightmare.