A man who indecently assaulted and burgled an elderly woman at knife point has been jailed for seven and a half years.

An Auckland Rugby Union hearing was scheduled to take place tomorrow, after a boy allegedly punched a referee, but may be delayed due to another disciplinary process.

A 14-year-old girl had to hold up the boot of a hearse so the body that fell from it at a busy South Auckland intersection could be pushed back inside.

The man who helped load a corpse back into the hearse it fell out of at a busy Auckland intersection has had trouble sleeping since the spooky ordeal.

"I was just parked there and all of a sudden I saw the funeral car's boot open."

Police are trying to determine the identity of a person who was hit by a train in South Auckland this morning.

A mother who was attacked in the street while neighbours looked on says the courts have failed her after her attacker walked free yesterday on grounds of insanity.

Eight people have escaped a Papatoetoe house fire this evening. Two fire crews were called out to the blaze at 8.40pm and were still at the property doing salvage work at 9.15pm.

A squad of Auckland police officers who disregarded their own safety to save the life of a fellow officer today received bravery awards for their heroic actions.

The campaign to clean up Hunter's Corner has created some unlikely bedfellows.

The couple alleged to be at the centre of a $375,000 benefit scam can be named for the first time.

A couple alleged to have ripped off taxpayers to the tune of $375,000 in Work and Income payments have been allowed to keep their names secret for now.

A couple are alleged to have ripped off taxpayers by hundred of thousands of dollars in welfare payments for dental treatments that never happened.

Two people will appear in court in Auckland tomorrow charged over a benefit fraud involving up to $375,000.

Eight men accused of an alleged Auckland Super City voter scam have had their trial shifted to the High Court.

A supermarket worker sacked over non-payment for a loaf of banana bread she wanted to gift to a blind woman says the incident had "ruined my life".

A care worker has been convicted of ripping off a 99-year-old woman for tens of thousands of dollars.

Thousands of fans who took the train to last week's 'family friendly' Rugby World Cup opening celebrations had a horrifying night they would rather forget.