Gate crashers stormed a family barbecue, smashing car windows, causing three people to be hospitalised and sparking and armed offenders call-out.

A woman who fought off an attacker at an Auckland train station last night is being praised by police for her "gutsy display".

Police are investigating a possible hit-and-run after a Christchurch man was found critically injured in his driveway this morning.

A tip-off by a suspicious Bunnings employee led to the discovery of a Rotorua drug manufacturing operation, a court has heard.

A Whangarei father has been arrested after police say he slapped his two-year-old daughter several times because she wouldn't shut up and kept demanding her bottle.

An 18-year-old woman was punched in the face during what appeared to be a random attack in the Masterton McDonald's carpark early yesterday.

A former international footballer has been sentenced to nine months of home detention for assaulting a referee during an Anzac Day match in Auckland.

A man who subjected his newborn baby to months of torture, including biting through her earlobe, will not spend any time in prison.

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.

A father who forced his children to cover up their injuries after he beat, slapped, whipped and strangled them has been imprisoned for four years.

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