A Whangarei man will have to wait to learn if he can avoid a conviction for drink driving so he can take up a professional contract playing rugby in Scotland.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority will formally apologise to a Whangarei family after releasing a report with incorrect information relating to drugs found in a car.

A "stoic old boy" who fell from a stack of hay bales on a remote corner of his Northland farm rode 3km in agonising pain on his quad bike to raise the alarm.

A random act of kindness brought 92-year-old fire victim Pearl Sanger close to tears after she received a signed novel from writer Lee Child, not yet released in NZ.

A Whangarei man jailed for two years and two months for violent offending during a gang feud has been released on parole with strict conditions.

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

A mental health worker was savaged about the head and neck during an attack by two dogs while she visited a client in Whangarei.

The body of a man found in the Hokianga Harbour will be released to his family for burial as soon as his identity is confirmed.

A domestic violence victim whose partner took her phone so she couldn't call police managed to raise the alarm via Facebook instead.

The wasabi sauce wasn't the only hot food item at a Whangarei sushi joint - the paua being used was also hot, having been bought illegally.

Police have officially named one-year-old Atreyu Taylor-Matene, the Whangarei youngster at the centre of a homicide investigation.

A man who admitted causing the death of a motorist can't remember what happened in the few seconds his car veered across State Highway 1 last year.

A giant petrel taken back to sea after being rescued on a west coast beach was in no hurry to test its freedom - the bird hung around the release boat for two hours before finally deciding to fly away.

An off-duty policeman tailed a stolen car until other officers and armed offenders squad members stopped and arrested the man who was wanted after a knife-point robbery.

Police have carried out a blitz on truancy in Whangarei, where nearly a third of students at some schools are absent at any given time.

A Whangarei man who was part of an elaborate plan that included robbing a tavern and later targeting Asian families in Auckland has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in jail.

A drunk Whangarei man held his teenage daughter in his room and attacked her with a machete after she refused to let him have more wine.

The outcome of a Human Rights Commission complaint by a lesbian couple who say they were discriminated against when a Whangarei lodge would not let them share a bed will only be made public if both sides agree.