The teen driver at the wheel of the van in which two friends were killed was last night at the hospital bedside of her boyfriend who is feared paralysed.

The teenage girl driver of a van involved in a horror double fatal smash early today had been drinking alcohol, say police.

A cold southerly is set to dump more snow on the Desert Road and bring a chill to much of the country.

David Bourke has formally been charged with the murder of his brother, whose body was found in a car, sparking a massive police hunt.

Wanganui freezing worker David Bourke will tomorrow be charged with murdering his brother, police say.

The former partner of deceased Napier gunman Jan Molenaar has told a court he bullied her into selling cannabis.