Suppression orders have been lifted on Malcolm George Chaston's guilty plea to a charge of murdering Christchurch woman Vanessa Anne Pickering, whose body was found down a bank near Godley Head a year ago.

A British man on trial for the murder of his Scottish wife and the attempted murder of his Kiwi wife is described as 'strange'.

A defence lawyer's attempt to prevent Brad Callaghan's image being photographed in court has been thrown out by a judge.

A woman who partially blinded a Hawke's Bay policeman after kicking him in the head and eye in July last year has been jailed for more than six and a half years.

Anonymous tipsters responding to an appeal for information on a vandalism attack have given police new leads on the murder of Feilding farmer Scott Guy and police have reiterated that information will be treated in confidence.

A sentence of home detention for a bar owner who killed a patron is a "mockery" to the family, the victim's father says.

The man accused of murdering Carmen Thomas faces 132 witness statements, 19,000 pages of evidence and CDs containing bugged phone conversations.

Police investigating the murder of farmer Scott Guy are pursuing a new lead linked to a vandalism attack on his Feilding property.

Members of the public wept in court today upon hearing a 3-year-old had over 80 marks or wounds when she died.

The man police accuse of murdering two people at a multi-million dollar Auckland mansion last month says he acted in self defence and "emphatically denies" murder charges, his lawyer says.

Three Dunedin police officers were injured in an attack last night, the second such incident in 24 hours.