Family advocates are angry that a couple charged with the abuse and torture of their 9-year-old daughter have been released on bail.

The two teens accused of a brutal machete attack on a police officer are to be charged with attempted murder.

The Auckland couple found dead in their home after a panicked 14-year-old girl called 111 to tell police about a serious domestic argument have been named, and police have revealed they died from knife wounds.

A police officer injured in a brutal machete attack needs more hospital treatment for his facial and head injuries.

A multiple sclerosis sufferer who shot dead her husband has avoided a prison sentence.

The killer of four-year-old James Whakaruru has been released from prison, despite multiple Parole Board reports claiming he remains violent and dangerous.

The mother of a tortured girl allegedly told authorities she was at a tangi 'down south' to prevent anyone seeing her injuries.

Police were this afternoon continuing inquiries into events leading to the deaths of a man and a woman overnight after a reported domestic incident.

Sydney police have charged a Kings Cross hotel security guard, believed to be former high-profile rugby league player John Hopoate, following the serious assault of a man in a Kings Cross street.

Murder accused Brad Callaghan has been allowed to see his 5-year-old son in prison.

There is extra security at Gisborne Hospital following a gang brawl between Black Power and the Mongrel Mob last night.

The widow of Feilding farmer Scott Guy, whose murder remains unsolved five months on, has issued a heartfelt plea for her husband's killer to come forward as the family faces its first Christmas without a husband and dad.

A 9-year-old girl found by police hiding in a wardrobe had suffered so much abuse that almost every part of her body was covered in injuries, including part of her scalp torn off her head as she was dragged down the hallway.

A 55-year-old woman had just beaten the cancer she had battled for 10 years when a teen, nearly five times over the youth drink driving limit, crossed the centre line and smashed into her car. He was jailed today.

Police in Long Island, New York fear they may have a serial killer on their hands.

West Coast butcher Peter Lamont will spend a minimum of 14-and-a-half years behind bars after being imprisoned for life for murdering his wife Lindsay in their Ikamatua home last year.