Seven people, including two children, would have drowned when their boat sank in the Hauraki Gulf if there not been another vessel in the area at the time, police say.

A man has been flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries after plummeting 30 metres down a steep bank when he crashed through a safety barrier at the top of Wainuiomata Hill Rd tonight.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the armed robbery of a dairy in Lower Hutt yesterday.

The killer of Lower Hutt schoolgirl Karla Cardno is still "a long way off being eligible for release", the Parole Board says.

A coroner says high visibility clothing should be compulsory for cyclists after the death of a senior police officer who was hit by a truck while riding his bike.

The stepfather of a Lower Hutt schoolgirl who was tortured and murdered has slammed the Parole Board for making her killer eligible for parole year after year.

The man who tortured and murdered Lower Hutt schoolgirl Karla Cardno has been denied parole.

The man who tortured and killed Lower Hutt schoolgirl Karla Cardno will make a bid for parole today but some of those involved in the case fear he will offend again.

A 29-year-old woman has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death in a Lower Hutt flat overnight.

The family of a father-of-three who died from a single punch to the head hugged his killer in court after telling him they forgave him.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man tried to abduct a young woman by forcing her into his car in Lower Hutt last night.

A post-mortem examination has confirmed father of two Michael Mulholland was seriously assaulted before his death in Taita, Lower Hutt, last Thursday.