A man told police he had no idea how $5000 came to be deposited in his Kiwibank account but he had spent most of it, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.

A shopkeeper has described his terrifying ordeal as a pair of armed robbers pointed a gun at his head.

New Zealanders lost more than $4.4 million to internet scams in the last year as cyber criminals became better organised, more resourceful and turned to blackmail.

A lawyer struck off over accusations of stealing nearly $3 million from clients has had 33 criminal charges laid against him.

A mother of four who burgled her neighbour's home has been given community work and a stern telling off for her actions.

Just when crime, Cote d'Azur style, was beginning to look a little low-rent, along comes a big, old-fashioned jewellery heist to restore the louche glamour.

Thieves have found a new way to steal petrol and have been targeting cars in upmarket Auckland areas in a month-long crime wave.

A Wellington cafe which was struck by brazen thieves after the magnitude 6.5 earthquake has been flooded with messages, calls and emails about the "low-life" offenders.

Brazen thieves made off with a safe containing cash from a cafe in one of Wellington's landmark downtown buildings.

A police car was rammed by a stolen a vehicle during a high-speed pursuit in Coromandel this morning.