Police are disgusted after a crashed driver stole a car belonging to an elderly couple who had stopped to help him.

A mother and a man abandoned three children after the pair were caught shoplifting at Taupo's Pak'n Save supermarket.

A Swedish neo-Nazi has been jailed for the theft of the infamous 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

A man appeared in court today charged with burglary and unlawfully taking two vehicles in west Auckland, which may be connected to an arson attack on a residential property.

A con-artist has taken thousands of dollars from Northland shops in a sophisticated Eftpos scam. Police say the scam - involving a fake courier - is likely to have been used elsewhere in New Zealand

In olden times, the mob would deliver justice via the guillotine and celebrate the deed by parading the guilty person's head on a pike.

Dean and Tabatha Forbes from Suffolk said they fell for New Zealand's relaxed way of life and other charms on a brief visit last year.

Authorities say a string of brazen and violent bank robberies in Auckland are probably linked, after a shotgun-wielding bank robber wished a terrified customer a Merry Christmas before taking off with about $100,000 cash.