Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Police Association and Retail NZ warn that people could die if new powers for citizens’ arrests and detaining criminals pass into law
• Ministerial advisory group chairman says retailers need more powers to protect themselves
• Supermarket giant worries about weapons.

Politicians considering wideranging changes to the Crimes Act, including widening the powers of citizens arrests and allowing retailers to detain suspected offenders, have received a stark warning.

Some of the proposed changes could result in deaths, the Justice Select Committee was told today.

The Police Association and Retail NZ say that as well as potentially ending in tragedy, this could see retailers in the dock charged with manslaughter.

The proposals stem from the work of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime, whose chairman Sunny Kaushal today made a plea for tougher laws.

‘A licence to assault’

Police Association president Steve Watt didn’t mince words when conveying the organisation’s concerns should ordinary citizens have more powers to detain suspected criminals.

“We’re trained to recognise positional asphyxiation where general members of the public are not, and we still do not get it right every time.

“The reality of the bill passing as it is it could actually result in death.”

When questioned Watt agreed manslaughter charges could be laid.

A law change would raise serious legal questions, too.

“This is seen as giving a licence to assault and a perception of legal protection for risky behaviour, for which an onus would be placed on those using such force to prove that it was reasonable.

“There is little to no understanding amongst ordinary citizens around the legal definition of reasonable force,” Watt said.

At the moment citizens arrests can only be carried out in very specific circumstances, such as when an offence happens at night or when a crime is being carried out that’s punishable by at least three years imprisonment.

More powers needed – Sunny Kaushal

Kaushal was asked by Labour’s police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen about the Police Association’s concerns.

“Wasn’t the Police Association concerned for the gang patch law as well, right? Here we need to be sensible. We need to see what works for New Zealand,” he said.

Kaushal was staunchly on-message about why retailers needed more powers to protect themselves, saying retail crime cost $2.7 billion a year.

“In 2019 we had 4000 monthly reports of retail crime. By the end of 2023 there were over 11,000 monthly reports.

“It went from one ram raid every three days to three ram raids every day.

“It leaves behind destruction, trauma and pain.”

Kaushal appeared at the committee alongside Upper Hutt retailer Suraj Parkash Sund to illustrate his point that the law doesn’t favour victims.

Sund slept on the floor of his business to ward off robbers, after his shop was repeatedly targeted, Kaushal said.

“Last month police caught the offenders – a 20-year-old, a few teenagers and a 9-year-old.

“Recently Suraj received an invitation to attend a family group conference. The purpose of the meeting? To see how to best support the offenders who have destroyed his life, not support for him.”

Worries about weapons

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young was until a couple of months ago a member of the ministerial advisory group alongside Kaushal.

Even then she criticised the citizens’ arrests proposal, and doubled down on that today.

“Retail NZ members have major concerns that the citizens’ arrest provisions within this bill would expose retailers, staff and their customers to increased risks or physical danger, and could result in serious harm or even death.”

Young said stores weren’t properly equipped to hold people, and there could be problems if police couldn’t immediately respond if an offender were detained.

Woolworths head of safety, health and wellbeing Denva Wren said retail crime cost the supermarket giant $30 million a year.

It was spending millions more than that on improved security measures, such as better CCTV. However, it did not support widening citizens’ arrests powers.

“We do believe that offenders will likely escalate much more quickly with the pre-emptive expectation that, potentially, citizens’ arrests could be used, and therefore they come in greater prepared with weapons.

“We have edge weapons and iron bars, and our team are being threatened by these on a weekly basis – generally about 60 to 70 serious events a year.”

Woolworths was also concerned customers would expect workers to intervene in dangerous situations, even if that was against company policy.

Employers and Manufacturers Association head of advocacy Alan McDonald said allowing retail workers to physically detain someone could cause problems under health and safety laws.

“There’s also another part of the law that says that if you feel you are being unlawfully restrained you may resist and use reasonable force to resist.

“You can see how that’s going to ramp up, because the people, particularly often those underage people who are doing these raids, know exactly what they can and can’t do.”

The Crimes Amendment Bill also includes provisions about tougher penalties for shoplifting and assaults on first responders, as well as coward punches and modern slavery.

The select committee will write its report on the bill, before it goes for its second reading in Parliament.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rush hour traffic is a familiar sight to most in the city, but the latest data from Auckland Transport (AT) confirms some roads are more snarled than others.

Central Auckland is arguable the worst spot, but the outskirts of the city, from the North Shore to Manukau, were not spared.

AT’s data – compiled from February – looked at average speeds during the peak times of 8am and 5pm as compared to the actual speed limit of the roads.

It also considered the total travel times and determined Auckland’s 16 most congested roads from February.

All of the roads had either a 50 or 60 km/h speed limit, but during peak hours the average speed of drivers on some roads was at or below 30 percent of the limit.

Experts say the congestion boils down to a constraint in the transport network and road capacity.

AT also reported a spike in public transport use this month with last week being the busiest for buses, trains and ferry services.

Auckland’s most congested roads

Manukau Rd/Broadway and Ponsonby Rd/Newton Rd faced some heavy congestion at 8am with average speed limit sinking to 8km/h.

Raleigh Rd/Lake Rd was at 9km/h in the morning and a total travel time of 8.2 minutes.

The highest speed limit average in the morning was 15km/h on the Albany Highway and St Lukes Rd.

The speed limit average seemed to ease in some areas during the 5pm peak time with Raleigh and Lake roads being at 28 km/h and Meola Rd 34 km/h.

However, some locations were not so lucky, with Ponsonby Rd/Newton Rd still being at a low of 9 km/h and a travel time of 6.21 minutes.

Why is this happening and what can be done?

University of Auckland associate professor and director of transportation research Doug Wilson said Auckland’s congestion is a classic “supply and demand problem”.

He said it was fundamentally caused by too many cars with low vehicle occupancy trying to use too little road space at the same time.

“Auckland is growing and the existing transport network is currently constrained in both road and Public Transport options especially when also using the same road space.

“This results in capacity being exceeded during peak periods – the outcome being traffic users during these periods – experience significant travel time increases.”

He also said Aucklanders tend to be bad at ‘sharing’ when it comes to using the private motor vehicle and struggle to use alternative options.

But Wilson stressed alternative options cush as public transport or cycling and walking could provide some relief for busy roads and Auckland was in need of more investment into

“Auckland does need more investment in transport infrastructure, funding is however constrained as we will collectively as a country still need to pay for it and not at the expense of other essential utilities, infrastructure and services.”

Wilson said congestion charges could be one of the solutions that would do well to manage the demand for transport and not just the supply

The Land Transport Management (Time-of-Use-Charging) amendment bill to bring in the charges passed its final reading in Parliament last November.

“Time of use charging is a very important tool to encourage the required behavioural change, but it needs to be implemented equitably. “

He added public transport is improving in Auckland with the promised City Rail Link and on-going improvements in bus rapid transit.

AT director of public transport Stacey van der Putten said they were always looking to optimise the network.

This included looking at public transport routs, adding bus or T3 lanes, different pay schemes or methods and promoting cycleways.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount in terms of uplifting what we call a frequent route in recent years. And with that, making it much more easy for people to access and increasing where things, a particular flow is going.”

The ‘busiest’ time of year

With March Madness also upon us, the congestion is not likely to get better anytime soon.

AT’s data for March so far showed traffic on routes like Manukau Rd/Broadway and Ponsonby Rd/Newton Rd moving at an average speed limit of 9km/h at 8am.

And the top average speed on Great North Rd had been 16km/h in the morning.

Director of transport advocacy website, Greater Auckland, Matt Lowrie told Nine to Noon last month it’s the busiest period of the year on the roads and public transport.

“It’s basically the highest level of transport demand that exists.”

He said there were a number of factors behind the march madness rush including students going back to school and University, people fully back at work from holidays and a drop in sickness compared to the winter months.

This has also meant a spike in public transport use.

AT said last week had been the busiest time on public transport so far this year with Aucklanders taking 2.217 million trips on buses, trains and ferry services.

“This is more trips than during our busiest week last March when our passengers took 2.174 million trips.”

Last Wednesday (March 4) had marked the busiest day on Auckland public transport since 2019 with AT reporting passengers taking 389,000 trips.

AT’s van der Putten said they were expecting public transport to get busier.

“We know with the rising cost of petrol at the pump, it does impact, you know, families and how they decide to move about.

“We’ve got plenty of capacity available on public transport to be able to support people to get on board.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Residents have been evacuated from a suburb near Christchurch Airport after a “high-risk explosive” was found.

Cordons are in place around Sheffield Crescent in Burnside after police were alerted to the substance shortly before 2.30pm on Thursday.

Police sent an emergency mobile alert to people nearby.

“All members of the public are advised to immediately evacuate the area in the vicinity of Sheffield Cres Burnside Christchurch and surrounding area due to high-risk explosive substance located,” the alert said.

Senior Sergeant Craig Ellison said people should avoid the area.

“An increased police presence can be expected as safe removal of the substance is arranged. Cordons will be removed once the area is safe,” he said.

Cordons will be removed once the area is safe, he added.

Some businesses have been evacuated, including Orion and a dance studio on Sheffield Cres.

Kate Limuloa, of Silhouette Studios, told RNZ she left just after 3pm. She said none of her 15 dance students received the alert.

A nearby gym told RNZ that only one client received an emergency alert.

Christchurch Airport has confirmed it was not affected.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch pre-school has been trashed with a fire extinguisher sprayed around its nursery, manager Kristal Heath says.

Staff at Papanui Preschool and Nursery felt powerless after the centre was broken into again on Wednesday and Tuesday night, she said.

Those burglaries were the third and fourth time the school had been targeted in the past month.

“There’s very little that we can do, and we don’t know why,” Heath said.

“I don’t know if it’s just we’re like an easy target.”

The pre-school was vandalised and its nursery coated in powder from the fire extinguisher on Wednesday evening, she said.

Toys, mats and other contents were wrecked and would need to be replaced.

Police said three young people were found nearby a short time later and taken home.

Heath said she believed the same group was responsible for Tuesday’s break-in, during which security cameras were destroyed and keys and other items were stolen from the office, as well as two earlier raids on the centre.

“The first time they attempted to break into the office and were unsuccessful, but they kind of damaged the door frame,” Heath said.

The centre’s modem and landline phone was stolen during the second break-in.

Camera footage showed it was the same group of Breens Intermediate students targeting the centre, Heath said.

“Third time they broke in they were wearing school uniforms so it was pretty easy to track them down,” she said.

Heath feared they would be targeted again.

The nursery remained closed on Thursday so it could be cleaned while the pre-school, in a separate building, was able to remain open.

Police officers that responded to the break-ins were frustrated by the age of the children, Heath said.

“There’s not much they can actually do and they said the parents aren’t liable for damages or anything,” she said.

“It feels like we don’t have anything we can do to stop it even though we’ve got footage of them committing many crimes.”

Breens Intermediate principal Nikki Clarke said she was alerted to the string of break-ins on Wednesday.

“I have been at the pre-school offering support and we have been working with the police and families involved,” Clarke said.

“The school community is extremely disappointed. We understand that this community pre-school is very important to the local community and the impact of this is distressing. Our thoughts are with them and their families at present and we will do whatever we can to support them.”

Police rangatahi prevention manager Inspector Kirsten Evans said there were extra protections for children and young people in law.

“Police work to hold offenders to account while operating within the bounds of the law,” she said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Residents have been asked to evacuate a Christchurch suburb due to a “high-risk explosive”.

Cordons are in place in the vicinity of Sheffield Crescent in Burnside and the public is asked to avoid the area.

Senior Sergeant Craig Ellison said police were alerted to a “concerning substance” at 2.20pm on Thursday.

An emergency alert sent to people in the area said a “high-risk explosive substance” was found.

Senior Sergeant Ellison said there will be an increased police presence as safe removal of the substance is arranged.

Cordons will be removed once the area is safe, he added.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man found guilty of murdering a man whose body was dismembered has an extensive criminal history including introducing a 14-year-old girl to prostitution, taking her money and then administering her morphine and having sex with her, it can now be revealed.

On Thursday, Michael Scott Rodger was found guilty of murdering Richard Leman, whose torso was found in the boot of his own car parked at an abandoned house in Rangiora in April 2023.

Leman’s head, legs and arms were still missing.

With the guilty verdict, a suppression order was revoked allowing RNZ to reveal that Rodger previously went by the surname Holdem and has an extensive criminal history which the jury was not informed of.

In 1999, Holdem and his co-accused were jailed in the High Court at Christchurch for eight years after pleading guilty to representative charges of living off the earnings off prostitution, sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 and above the age of 12, and administering morphine.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Court documents seen by RNZ, state the girl was 14 when she met Holdem and his co-defendant.

Through her involvement with them she began to use morphine which was administered by them. The two men introduced the girl to prostitution as a means of supporting her drug addiction, a court of appeal decision in 2020 said.

The two men took her “considerable earnings from prostitution” and in return she was supplied and administered morphine.

Holdem’s co-defendant appeared to be the “principal force”, behind introducing the girl to prostitution, the court said. However, after he suffered a head injury Holdem took over responsibility for sending her out to work, collecting her earnings and administering the morphine.

“During part of this time the complainant was living with the appellant and had sexual intercourse with him. The appellant also had sexual intercourse with the complainant on at least one previous occasion. This was when they first met. The evidence establishes, and was accepted by the sentencing Judge, that at these times the appellant was aware the complainant was only 14-years-old.”

As a result of the offending the girl developed Hepatitis C, which a doctor described as a “life sentence”.

At the Court of Appeal, Holdem disputed matters of fact including claiming he did not at any stage administer morphine, and said there was no evidence he received money earned by her. He also said he had sexual intercourse with the girl once, and did not know she was 14.

The Court of Appeal said the summary of facts Holdem pleaded guilty to described his activities in administering the morphine and living off her earnings.

The sentencing judge had accepted evidence that Holdem had been overheard by a police officer saying to another person in custody that he was aware of her age and had sexual intercourse with her regardless.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Holdem’s appeal.

Victim feared for her life

In 2009, Holdem was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to supply methamphetamine and conspiring to supply cannabis. The offending related to a police investigation launched after they received information that Holdem’s mother was sending methamphetamine to him in prison.

Between 1 April and 6 May 2009, police intercepted phone communications between Holdem and his mother while he was in prison.

On 14 April 2009, Holdem’s mother posted a parcel to her son which was intercepted by prison staff. The parcel contained three books, one of which contained 1.5 grams of methamphetamine inside several small snaplock bags, hidden in the spine.

During her interview with police, Holdem’s mother said her son had been arranging the sales and importing of drugs into prison for “not very long, six months or under, really only the last few months I would say”.

Then, in 2017, Holdem was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment on charges of assault with intent to injure, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of explosives.

Court documents said Holdem had been in an on-off relationship with the victim of the assault for about two years.

“After receiving several threatening text messages from Mr Holdem, which the victim says caused her to fear for her life, the victim barricaded herself inside her home, nailing windows shut and boarding the doors to protect herself from Mr Holdem.”

About 11.45pm, on 3 July 2016 Holdem managed to enter the victim’s home.

“She was hiding under a bed at the time. He found her using a torch he had with him and then punched her several times in the head with a closed fist. After she covered her face with her hands to protect herself Mr Holdem continued to punch the victim in the stomach.

“Before leaving, it is said he told the victim that she better not tell anyone or else he would find her and kill her and that she had better move out of that place real fast. She suffered clear injuries as a result of the assault, including a very swollen and bruised eye.”

The next day police raided Holdem’s home where they found a disassembled .22 rifle as well as 16 sticks of explosive gel, 14 metres of detonation coil and five electronic detonators.

Holdem would later appeal his sentence to the High Court.

The appeal referenced Judge Jane Farish’s sentence in the Christchurch District Court where she noted Holdem’s “troubling recent history of being before that court.”

“At the time of the offending Mr Holdem was subject to release conditions, having earlier in March 2016 been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment on charges of possession of a knife, possession of utensils for the purposes of using methamphetamine and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.

“At the time of that offending he was subject to intensive supervision imposed on 16 January 2016 for charges of methamphetamine possession, driving whilst suspended, and weapons charges.”

Judge Farish acknowledged Holdem’s “genuine desire to change” but warned this would only be possible if he addressed his drug abuse problems.

In dismissing Holdem’s appeal, Justice Gendall said the offending involved “nasty and serious violence after a forced break in by the appellant against his former partner”.

“Out of fear of him, the victim had barricaded herself into her home following threats against her by the appellant. It was violence in the nature of serious and intimidating domestic violence and this, in my view, needs to be met with an appropriate and stern response.”

‘I suggest he’s not unlucky, I suggest he’s guilty’

On Thursday, Rodger was found guilty of murdering Leman.

Closing arguments were heard in the High Court at Christchurch on Monday in front of Justice Jonathan Eaton.

The jury heard from Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes for more than two hours, where he explained the case against Rodger was “overwhelming”.

In response, Rodger’s defence lawyer Ethan Huda said there were legitimate questions around the circumstances of Leman’s death.

He explained the Crown had failed to mention, in its closing arguments, evidence from a pathologist who found Leman could have been stabbed before being shot.

“There’s a reasonable doubt about what happened at the crime scene. There’s a reasonable doubt as to what happened around the time of death,” Huda said.

“I suggest…that when you get to [the pathologist’s] evidence during your deliberation, the Crown’s case evaporates into the thin air like candy floss. It’s good to look at, it’s even good to taste from a certain angle, but it’s fluff.

“It’s disrespectful to 12 members of the jury to think you can hide evidence from them. A pathetic attempt at proving its case.”

The Crown argues Rodger shot Leman twice, first in the leg, then a fatal shot to his chest.

Earlier in the trial, pathologist Dr Leslie Anderson said Leman was also stabbed in the back.

The defence said key Crown witnesses Morgan Grant and Sara Plimmer, who were with Leman the night he died, did not reference a stabbing during their respective testimonies.

The defence also outlined a text message exchange between Grant and another person, three days after Leman’s murder, which referenced the involvement of not one, but multiple “fugitives”.

In his closing arguments for the Crown, Hawes told jurors “objective evidence” proved there was only one possible killer.

“I suggest the way to approach the case is to start with what is fixed and independent, the pathology, the CCTV and telecommunications records, and all the forensic work and the linkages back to Mr Rodger,” he said.

“Any other possible explanation you’re looking at bring it back to this core, objective evidence. When you do that, I suggest the evidence clearly converges on one person and one person only and that is Mr. Rodger.”

Hawes said the accused’s claim that another unidentified person was the killer remained implausible.

“Mr. Roger would have you believe he’s unlucky.

“It’s not simply bad luck, that he was at the scene. It certainly was for Richard Leman. It’s not bad luck that both eyewitnesses name him as the perpetrator.

“I suggest he’s not unlucky, I suggest he’s guilty.”

The Crown said no-one gave Leman first-aid or called emergency services and Leman died within minutes.

The jury heard that Rodger threatened to kill Grant and Plimmer, took Leman’s drugs and cash and dragged his body into another room.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand