A psychiatric report delivered to the Parole Board found Ewen Macdonald still has a "significant personality disturbance" and has not addressed the factors underpinning his offending.

So alarmingly straightforward was escaped murderer Phillip Smith's flight to South America that it is imperative lessons are learned.

A teenager who was tied up and told her throat was going to be slit had to climb across balconies nine floors high to escape her attacker, a court has heard.

A man who stabbed an ACC staffer to death after a dispute over a payment has been declined parole.

An Auckland caregiver ripped off taxpayers for nearly $70,000 to try to get her family out of a "tin shed" they were living in, a court heard.

The son of a WWII prisoner of war and hero of the Battle of Crete who admitted stealing nearly $90,000 from his dead father's veterans' pension will only have to repay $4500.

Police have apologised to Malcolm Rewa's victims over the length of time it took to catch the serial rapist and prevent his offending.

A young mother helped stop her former partner - 'psychotic' on synthetic cannabis - from driving her and her child into Otago Harbour.

Stewart Murray Wilson has been declined parole because he still poses an undue risk to the community, the Parole Board has decided.

A 55-year-old man, described as a "serial fraudster" has been sentenced for impersonating a lawyer and now holds 184 convictions, including impersonating a pilot.

The sexual abuse claims of a boy had been "clearly vindicated" and a weight lifted from his mind, a judge said as he jailed Damien Robert Banks for 15 months.

A former professional at an Auckland firm is battling to keep his name secret after being sentenced for possessing and exporting objectionable images of children.

One of New Zealand's most notorious female fraudsters has lost an appeal against her jail term for working as a prostitute while on home detention.

A former property developer and reality TV-star has lost an appeal against his sentence for hiding assets worth $277,709 while bankrupt.

A Hawke's Bay volleyball coach has been sentenced to home detention after she admitted engaging in a "damaging psychological relationship" with a young female student.

A man who duped a family into buying properties will spend Easter in jail after attempt for an appeal against his sentence failed this morning.

Convicted sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson has been denied parole, with the Parole Board noting concerns over his release proposal.

The mother of the 3-year-old who was tortured and killed says she was shocked by the Parole Board's decision to revoke her parole.

A frustrated conservationist who set fire to a lodge on an unspoilt island in the Hauraki Gulf has avoided a jail term, partly due to his service protecting the environment.

A transgender Oamaru woman sentenced on Wednesday to nine months' imprisonment in a men's jail could apply to be moved to a women's prison.

A transgender Oamaru woman has been ordered to serve a jail sentence in a men's prison, despite a request for home detention.

Teina Pora is "overwhelmed" by a Parole Board decision that will see him released from prison after more than 21 years, his lawyer says.