MURDER CONVICTION: The jury in the Navtej Singh murder trial has found one man, Anitelea Chan-Kee, 22, guilty of murder. Mr Singh died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen inflicted during the armed robbery of his Riverton liquor store in Manurewa East in June 2008. The jury reached the decision on Thursday afternoon after deliberating since Monday. The five other men who were also on trial were found not guilty of murder and manslaughter though three were found guilty of aggravated robbery. Chan Kee admitted during the trial to pulling the trigger but insists it was an accident. Earlier he also said that he was horrified by his behaviour and the consequences of his action. -RadioLIVE/3News
BUCKING UP: Buck is on the mend, says his owner, Bronson Stewart. “His leg is healing very well, and he’s just great – he really is.” Bronson and Buck, his young dog, became headline and talkback radio fodder last month. “Buck was hit by a speeding car last month and had a badly broken hind leg,” the Wanganui Chronicle reported. Bronson couldn’t afford the vet’s fees. The vet said that Buck would have to be put down if he did not pay. Bronson kidnapped Buck from the vet clinic. Their plight prompted the SPCA to set up a national trust fund for badly injured animals needing veterinary care. People from all over New Zealand paid into the fund, which totalled more than $4000. Massey University veterinarians fixed up Buck.
NO FISH GULP: SPCA threats of legal action and a police visit helped persuade a Hamilton bar owner to drop plans to serve live goldfish shots at his bar this week. Customers instead got a free shot of alcohol on entry plus a chocolate fish, which, Agenda bar owner Logan Hughes said, would have tasted much better than the original species offered. Mr Hughes had told the Waikato Times that sculling live goldfish was not as cruel as people thought, and that the event, with 200 fish, would go ahead. “But within hours he had called off the stunt,” the Times said. The SPCA issued Mr Hughes with an enforcement notice, which ordered him not to sell the goldfish and not to put them into a drink. If he did, the SPCA would prosecute.
QUAKE FAMILY MOURNED: Hundreds of mourners and well-wishers packed Nelson’s Christ Church Cathedral this week for the farewell service for Emmanuel Rejouis, and his daughters Kofie-Jade, 5, and Zenzie Sanson-Rejouis, 3. They were among the 230,000 killed in the earthquake in Haiti in January. Nelson-born Emily Sanson-Rejouis was not injured in the quake. She pulled her youngest daughter, Alyahna, 2, from the collapsed Port-au-Prince hotel where the family lived. The Nelson Mail reported that services were held simultaneously in cities around the world by friends and family members unable to be in Nelson.
NAKED PEDLAR: A Wellington naked cyclist, Nick Lowe, has successfully appealed against a conviction and fine for riding his bike nude near Upper Hutt. Mr Lowe was convicted in the Distict Court of offensive behaviour and fined $200 and $130 court costs after he was stopped by police while riding his bike on a rural road on March 15 last year – the ‘World Nude Bike Day’. A woman motorist had complained to police after seeing him and later told the court she was ‘fairly disgusted’. Mr Lowe appealed against the conviction in the High Court. Justice Clifford said Mr Lowe’s nakedness had not met the test of offensive behaviour. He quashed the conviction and fine. Mr Lowe told The Dominion Post when he filed the appeal: “It’s a lifestyle thing – to put clothes on is uncomfortable. It’s not about exhibitionism, I’m just uncomfortable in clothes.”
MADDIE SIGHTED?: Security camera footage from The Warehouse in South Dunedin filmed seven months after her disappearance in Portugal might provide a vital clue in the search for the missing British girl Madeleine McCann, the Otago Daily Times reported yesterday [Thursday]. British newspapers said that papers released to them from the Portuguese courts revealed Portuguese police had disregarded several possible sightings of Madeleine. “These included CCTV footage from … The Warehouse in South Dunedin in December 2007.” Madeleine, then 3, went missing in May 2007 during a family holiday. The Dunedin police said the footage was taken at the store on December 5, 2007, about 9pm. Inspector Dave Campbell said police had spoken to the female security officer who had become suspicious of a customer accompanying the young girl. The overweight man was joined by a woman and older boy, he said.
DROWNING DOWN: Eleven people drowned in New Zealand last month making a total of 20 over January and February. This is a significant decrease over last year's figure of 32 but Water Safety New Zealand's general manager, Matt Claridge said that the swimming skills of New Zealand were getting worse and that a number of recent incidents could have been avoided. “The research is clear” says Claridge, “It indicates New Zealand children's swimming skills are in a poor state. If this, coupled with the ongoing dismantling of learn to swim delivery through the school system continues, more incidents and deaths are inevitable.” Of the 11 people who drowned in February, five died swimming, with two in rivers and three in the sea
MURDER CONVICTION: The jury in the Navtej Singh murder trial has found one man, Anitelea Chan-Kee, 22, guilty of murder. Mr Singh died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen inflicted during the armed robbery of his Riverton liquor store in Manurewa East in June 2008. The jury reached the decision on Thursday afternoon after deliberating since Monday. The five other men who were also on trial were found not guilty of murder and manslaughter though three were found guilty of aggravated robbery. Chan Kee admitted during the trial to pulling the trigger but insists it was an accident. Earlier he also said that he was horrified by his behaviour and the consequences of his action. -
BUCKING UP: Buck is on the mend, says his owner, Bronson Stewart. “His leg is healing very well, and he’s just great – he really is.” Bronson and Buck, his young dog, became headline and talkback radio fodder last month. “Buck was hit by a speeding car last month and had a badly broken hind leg,” the 
NO FISH GULP: SPCA threats of legal action and a police visit helped persuade a Hamilton bar owner to drop plans to serve live goldfish shots at his bar this week. Customers instead got a free shot of alcohol on entry plus a chocolate fish, which, Agenda bar owner Logan Hughes said, would have tasted much better than the original species offered. Mr Hughes had told the 
QUAKE FAMILY MOURNED: Hundreds of mourners and well-wishers packed Nelson’s Christ Church Cathedral this week for the farewell service for Emmanuel Rejouis, and his daughters Kofie-Jade, 5, and Zenzie Sanson-Rejouis, 3. They were among the 230,000 killed in the earthquake in Haiti in January. Nelson-born Emily Sanson-Rejouis was not injured in the quake. She pulled her youngest daughter, Alyahna, 2, from the collapsed Port-au-Prince hotel where the family lived. 
NAKED PEDLAR: A Wellington naked cyclist, Nick Lowe, has successfully appealed against a conviction and fine for riding his bike nude near Upper Hutt. Mr Lowe was convicted in the Distict Court of offensive behaviour and fined $200 and $130 court costs after he was stopped by police while riding his bike on a rural road on March 15 last year – the ‘World Nude Bike Day’. A woman motorist had complained to police after seeing him and later told the court she was ‘fairly disgusted’. Mr Lowe appealed against the conviction in the High Court. Justice Clifford said Mr Lowe’s nakedness had not met the test of offensive behaviour. He quashed the conviction and fine. Mr Lowe told 
MADDIE SIGHTED?: Security camera footage from The Warehouse in South Dunedin filmed seven months after her disappearance in Portugal might provide a vital clue in the search for the missing British girl Madeleine McCann, the 
