Two men are facing assault charges after a late-night fight outside a Lower Hutt service station left a man in a critical condition.

A bill tightening bail laws for killers and repeat offenders is being toughened by making it harder for 18- and 19-year-olds to avoid custody.

A dangerous prisoner who bit his partner badly on the cheek and was granted bail to attend his son's funeral has disappeared.

The family of bashed Martinborough man Peter Fisher have made a plea to locals not to take matters into their own hands.

A man charged with the murder of Rae Portman - who was missing for four months before her body was found - can now be named.

The British-Iraqi man killed in last month's quadruple Alps shooting had access to a bank account linked to Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein.

A teen murderer's "one-fingered salute" to a press photographer made a lie of his remorse, a High Court judge says.

A former Mana Party candidate and Green Party member has appeared in the Rotorua District Court charged with assaulting a woman and possession of cannabis.

A teen who stabbed a fellow partygoer to death over a kiss has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 11 years.

Blanket suppression details on an arrest from the Rae Portman murder investigation were lifted today, although name suppression of the accused remains in place.