Author: Press Room

The trial for a man accused of setting fire to Loafers Lodge, where five people died, is set down to begin today.Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings, were all living at the Wellington lodge at the time for the fatal blaze.The 50-year-old man, who’s been charged with five counts of murder and two counts of arson, has been granted name suppression ahead of the trial in the Wellington High Court.In the lead up to the trial, survivors have said the building, which remained untouched since the fire, needed to be demolished.The Wellington City Mission, which…

A woman overdosed after she was given six times the prescribed dose of a fentanyl patch by her pharmacy.The Pharmacy Council is investigating the incident and the pharmacy involved said the “mistake” was the result of “human error”.RNZ earlier revealed Bellamere Arwyn Duncan died on July 19 after the two-month-old was given more than 13 times the prescribed dose of phosphate by a pharmacy.A provisional post mortem report said she died from phosphate toxicity.The revelations prompted the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand to “urgently” undertake a joint review into the incident with MedSafe visiting the pharmacy to ensure…

A Rotorua Lakes Council candidate in this year’s local elections says she is “only human” after revealing she has twice filed for bankruptcy.Mariana Morrison, who is running for a seat on the general ward in the October elections, said she was addressing this now in the spirit of “transparency and integrity” and that blemishes on her financial record from more than a decade ago were not relevant today.According to the Insolvency Register, Morrison was declared bankrupt in October 2007 and June 2011. Morrison applied for both bankruptcies. The information has always been publicly available, but Morrison decided to front-foot the…

If I’m just using my water bottle for good old fashioned H20, there’s no risk of contamination — right? Wrong, according to some experts, who warn that mould and bacteria can sneak their way into reusable drink bottles right under your nose. The solution? A regular scrub with a brush, according to AgResearch microbiologist Steve Archer. He told Breakfast water bottles could pick up micro-organisms from the face and mouth. The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the trial for a man who set fire to Loafers Lodge begins, Erin Patterson’s back in court, and how dirty is your drink…

A woman has died in police custody in Christchurch this morning.Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill said the woman was found unresponsive in her cell at Christchurch Central Police Station at around 6.50am on Monday.”Police immediately notified St John, officers also provided medical assistance.”Sadly, attempts to revive the woman were unsuccessful.”Police were making inquiries into the circumstances of the death which would be referred to the Coroner and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the trial for a man who set fire to Loafers Lodge begins, Erin Patterson’s back in court, and how dirty…

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the trial for a man who set fire to Loafers Lodge begins, Erin Patterson’s back in court, and how dirty is your drink bottle?The trial for a man charged after the deadly fire at Wellington’s Loafers Lodge begins today. A post-mortem will be carried out on the body of a baby found in Auckland’s Albert Park over the weekend. Erin Patterson will face the families of her victims at a pre-sentence hearing in Melbourne today. Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano has spectacularly erupted,shooting lava 30 metres into the air. ADVERTISEMENTScientists say if you’re not washing…

The Education Ministry suspects some schools have been opening for fewer days than legally required, documents obtained under the Official Information Act show.The documents also show the ministry is preparing a crackdown – monitoring schools next year and limiting the number of days they can choose to close this year.The Secondary Principals Association challenged the ministry’s evidence that schools were breaking the rules.It also said the ministry’s interpretation of what counted as being open for instruction was wrong, and it had legal advice to that effect.The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the trial for a man who set fire…

Eight people have been taken to hospital after a van rolled in a Bay of Plenty crash this morning.Emergency responders were called to Wilson North Road, near Paengaroa, at 7.41am. Of the eight taken to Tauranga Hospital, two were in a serious condition, five were in a moderate condition, and one was in a minor condition, St John said.Two other injured people were assessed and treated at the scene. Police were managing traffic while “contractors remove the vehicle from the road”. Four ambulances attended to the crash, according to St John, alongside two operations managers and one rapid response unit.…

The Commerce Commission has announced it has filed proceedings against Westpac NZ in the High Court. It alleged the bank breached lender responsibility principles, after multiple failures meant customers did not receive legally required information about their loans and, in some cases, agreed interest rate discounts.The responsible lending principles impose obligations on lenders when advertising, before entering into a loan, and during all subsequent dealings with borrowers and guarantors. Commerce Commission competition, fair trading, and credit general manager Vanessa Horne said the Commission expected banks to invest in robust compliance practices to ensure they are complying with the Credit Contracts…

As the public health system struggles with colonoscopy waitlist targets, more Kiwis are forking out thousands for the procedure privately.Malcolm Mulholland usually advocates for other people struggling with the public health system. Today the tables are turned and the chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa is now fighting for himself. A colonoscopy last year discovered polyps which had a high chance of becoming cancerous. They were removed, but the diagnosis put him in the high-risk category for bowel cancer, meaning he should now have an annual surveillance colonoscopy.Instead, in December last year, he received a letter from Health NZ saying surveillance…