NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some locals have described a Wellington sewage plant shutdown as gross, sad and unacceptable.

An average of around 70 million litres of untreated wastewater had been pouring into the capital’s South Coast since Wednesday morning.

The Moa Point plant’s lower floors had been completely flooded when sewage backed up in the 1.8km outfall pipe, which normally sent treated wastewater into the Cook Strait.

Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty said it was critical the company understood why the pipe failed.

RNZ went out to Wellington’s South Coast on Wednesday evening.

Lyall Bay on a bright summer evening would normally have been humming with surfers out in the waves and locals on their post-work walks.

But instead, the area was deserted – the only people there were Wellington Water staff members in large fluro coats warning people about the sewage.

RNZ spoke to locals from the safety of concrete paths and carparks.

Angus was planning to go down to the water for a surf, but decided against it after looking at the water.

“I didn’t want to go there because it looked like I don’t know… toilet paper or jellyfish, so I was like I don’t really want to go in on either of those.”

Stacey said she came down to the beach to enjoy the view and that the plant breakdown was “pretty shocking” and “pretty gross”.

She held concerns about how Wellington Water managed the pipes and plants.

“Where I live Ngaio there’s water out quite a lot, so this is just sort of on top of ongoing issues that they seem to have with the infrastructure.”

Kristina said the news was horrible.

“Really unacceptable, this is a beach where you might see a lot of surfers and they are all in the water all year around,” she said.

“I think it is pretty toxic.”

Leila Martley told RNZ it was a “hugely sad” situation.

“I really feel for Wellington Water.”

She also felt for Tiaki Wai – the new organisation set to take over Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Porirua’s water operations.

“It is just an awful thing to set off with.”

Further to the east of the coast at Tarakena Bay Alishba said she was about to go swimming but was warned by a local not to get in the water.

“It is pretty gross; I don’t know how that would happen though.”

A Rahui was in place throughout the South Coast, with people told not to gather food and to keep themselves and their dogs out of the water.

Wellington Water said it was taking water samples from a wide area and was expected to provide an update later on Thursday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Tauranga mayor said any decisions on the land immediately surrounding the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide will be months away, but feels it is unlikely that the area will remain a campsite in the future.

Six people died after a section of the maunga collapsed into a campground during the extreme weather event two weeks ago.

On Wednesday, Mayor Mahé Drysdale announced that Tauranga is moving to a “transition period” for a month, focusing on assessing damage and making plans for what reopening Mauao looks like.

The mayor said any decisions on the future of the land surrounding the landslide will require conversations with iwi, communities, and people closely affected by the tragedy.

“We’ve got a number of conversations to have with the families of those that lost loved ones, because we also want to be respectful and understand what they’d like to see,

“I think I can probably confidently say we don’t have a campground where the slip happened, we got to make some decisions around what we do with that land and how we remember this very tragic event,” he said.

Access to Mauao is restricted, and cordons remain along parts of Marine Parade and Adams Avenue, as geotechnical experts assess conditions.

Drysdale said the current focus is to mitigate risks around the Mount Maunganui landslip, so that businesses nearby can open before the Waitangi weekend.

He said three businesses remain closed on Adams Avenue, but he’s hopeful that they can safely open by Friday.

Drysdale said shipping containers have been put in as a precaution, and more work will be done on Thursday to stabilise the land.

“By putting these mitigations in place, and this is always subject to geotechnical advice, we’re confident that we can make it safe enough that we’re happy to open that,” he said.

Drysdale said businesses have had a hard time since the tragedy, and he hopes that visitors can still come and support them during the Waitangi weekend.

“We hope that people still come down to the area and support these businesses, this was a natural disaster and no doing of themselves, but they have been caught in the crossfire, so we’re doing what we can to support them,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Auckland couple who accidentally received $158,000 in a bank transfer error, spending most of the money within days, have each been sentenced to six months of community detention.

Senia Filipo, 39, and her 37-year-old husband, Alexander, were sentenced at the Auckland District Court on Tuesday.

Mistaken transfer

In January 2024, Mt Roskill pensioner Sit Bong (Andrew) Che, now 79, tried to transfer his life savings from Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom to his Westpac account in New Zealand.

However, Che missed a digit when entering his account details due to what he claimed was a “sticky keyboard” and, following the bank’s own protocols, Westpac added a zero to the suffix, which ended up sending the money to Senia Filipo’s account.

Senia received the money a couple of weeks later, withdrawing $3000 from two ATMs, paying off a loan worth about $18,694 and making two large transfers to her husband’s Westpac account on the same day, according to the summary of facts.

Two days later, she bought a car for $49,000, and then withdrew a total of $9000 on five other occasions, primarily using the money at food and retail stores.

In March, Senia made her last large purchase of $1500 at Mag and Tyre before the acquired funds had been used.

She was charged with intending to deprive Che of $158,643.88 after obtaining control over the money, irrespective of how it was obtained.

Senia told Alexander she had unexpectedly received a large sum of money in her account.

Alexander then received two payments from Senia totaling $59,000, and another $5000 on a later date.

He was charged with having been reckless as to whether the money transferred to him had been obtained by an imprisonable offence.

The couple’s charges each carried a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, with both pleading guilty.

Che only discovered that he had not received the funds in March, notifying Westpac.

Following an investigation, the bank recovered a little over $28,000.

Che made several efforts to get his money back, contacting police, the banks in New Zealand and the UK as well as the banking ombudsmen in both jurisdictions, receiving a refund in full by Barclays in May last year.

Gambling windfall implausible

Senia and Alexander Filipo claimed they thought the money was winnings from an online casino game.

However, Judge Simon Lance found the explanation implausible.

The couple failed to make further enquiries into the nature of the funds, even though Senia’s bank statement listed Barclays as the sender instead of a casino, Lance said.

The judge also noted discrepancies in the couple’s accounts, questioning why any winnings would be paid to Senia if Alexander was the person who gambled.

He also considered the way in which the large amount of money was spent.

“They didn’t think to themselves that this can’t be right. They just went and spent it,” Judge Lance said. “[Claiming the money was a] windfall from online gambling lacks plausibility.

“It makes it hard for me to accept that the couple honestly thought the money was theirs and now they have pleaded guilty.”

The couple both applied for discharge without conviction and had sought permanent name suppression.

Acknowledging the couple did not hold any previous convictions, accepting their remorse as genuine and recognising their need to support five young children, Judge Lance sentenced each of them to a six-month community detention.

The judge refused to grant permanent name suppression as he didn’t feel the threshold for extreme hardship had been met.

In a victim impact statement, Che said he had “suffered significant financial, physical and emotional hardship over approximately 18 months”.

“The funds taken represented my retirement savings,” Che said. “During this period, I experienced severe stress, difficulty sleeping and eating, and lost over 10kg in weight.”

Che said he had been unable to make a substantial financial contribution to his son’s wedding and had become socially withdrawn.

“Justice [has] been served,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An inmate has died after being transported to Mt Eden prison on his way back from court.

Corrections acting deputy commissioner men’s prisons David Pattinson confirmed in a statement to RNZ that a man had died after being transported to the prison in a First Security escort vehicle about 3pm on Wednesday.

“The court escort had returned to Mt Eden Corrections Facility after taking the prisoner to court. Upon opening the prisoner’s cell, staff have found the prisoner unresponsive. Our staff made every effort to save him, however they were unable to revive him.

“The prisoner was secured in his own cell within the van. There are no indications the death is suspicious.”

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

Pattinson said Corrections’ thoughts were with those impacted by the man’s death.

“Staff and prisoners are being provided with support, including access to Chaplains and cultural support where requested.”

Police had been notified, and had contacted the man’s next of kin.

“All deaths in custody are referred to the Coroner for investigation and determination of cause of death.

“An investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate will also be carried out.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has been charged with murder after the death of a woman in Clutha on 23 January.

Emergency services were called to Adams Flats Road in Crichton around 6.10pm.

A woman was found deceased, and a second person was critically injured.

Police said a man has been arrested and charged with the murder after a bedside hearing on Wednesday.

“We understand this is a distressing event for the small community,” detective senior sergeant Nik Leigh said.

“Police would like to reassure residents that officers are not searching for any other people in relation to the matter.”

Friends and co-workers named the murdered woman as Jillian Clark, who worked at Clutha Vets in Milton.

John Smart said he worked with Clark for about 30 years at different branches of the veterinarian practice. He said Clark had a keen interest in sheep health and production.

“She was a highly respected vet, it’s a hell of a shock,” he said.

The tight-knit Clutha Vets team would be heartbroken, as would farmers from Taieri to Milton, Smart said.

“I know the whole community down there will be absolutely in mourning for the tragedy of losing Jillian. She was just a great lady, a great community member, and supported the farmers in particular.”

A death notice described Clark as a much-loved family member who was tragically taken.

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