Author: Press Room

An Auckland primary school teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an 11-year-old student more than 20 years her junior has been sentenced to six months home detention.The woman, in her 30s, earlier this year admitted to charges of grooming a young person for sexual conduct and doing an indecent act on a boy under 12.She appeared in North Shore District Court before Judge Paul Murray, who said her offending had a devastating impact on the boy and his family.Where to get help for sexual violence. (Source: 1News)Judge Murray lifted name suppression, but her lawyer David Jones told the court…

The collapse of large retailer Smiths City has liquidators expecting many creditors will go unpaid after adding up more than $26.8 million in liabilities. About 240 companies are owed money and unsecured creditors are also likely to be out of pocket after liquidators Colin Gower and Diana Matchett from BDO Christchurch combed through the company’s assets and debts in their first report. “Unfortunately, we do not anticipate that there will be any funds available for a distribution to unsecured creditors,” they said. Founded in 1918, the Christchurch institution operated nine stores mainly in the South Island with a focus on…

A woman has pleaded not guilty to interfering with human remains after the body of a newborn baby was discovered in an Auckland wheelie bin earlier this year.Police found the body in a bin on Renall St in Freemans Bay in July.Officers at the time described the death as a tragedy.Appearing in Auckland District Court via audio-video link from Auckland Women’s Prison on Wednesday, the accused entered a not guilty plea by reason of insanity.The identity of the woman remained suppressed.She was remanded in custody, and was expected to reappear next Wednesday.rnz.co.nz

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ Fiordland Lobster Company group human resources manager Toni Magi says she’s never seen anything like it. The company recently received 91 applications for a factory hand role in Te Anau and more than 120 for a position in Auckland, not including overseas applicants and those without work visas. “There’s a shortage of roles within New Zealand. There’s certainly not the wide range of positions that are touted to be available and people are desperate for work.” The jobs were entry level roles that did not require specific qualifications. The increased number of applications had been noticeable in the past…

Kiss rock star Gene Simmons is recovering after he fainted while driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and crashed his SUV into a parked car, authorities said.Simmons, a co-founder and bassist for the legendary band, was evaluated at a hospital before being released. He posted on social media that he was doing well.”Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes. I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens,” he said on X.The 76-year-old’s SUV crossed several lanes before hitting a parked car along the highway, agencies that responded to the crash told several media outlets. Simmons was…

A two-year bylaw which will ban vehicles accessing a scenic stretch of South Wairarapa coastline was adopted on Wednesday by the district council.As part of the bylaw, which would come into effect on December 1, pedestrians and cyclists would still be allowed access to the unformed legal road in the Cape Palliser area.This differed from the initial proposal which aimed to ban all access for three years.The unformed legal road, which gives public access to a stretch of South Wairarapa coastline, traverses both privately-owned Māori land and Crown land managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC).It had historically been used…

Hundreds of teenagers with a health condition or disability could be cut off from the Jobseeker benefit as part of the Government’s welfare changes, official data shows.The Government is ending Jobseeker payments to 18- and 19-year-olds whose parents earn more than $65,000, saying it will encourage them to find work.It estimated about 4300 young people would become ineligible for support.The policy will also apply to young beneficiaries with a health condition or disability who have had to stop work for a period of time or reduce their hours.Those too sick to work under health and disability compensation are now also…

Two Southern Lakes cleaning and laundry businesses, both with the same director, are insolvent and have been placed into liquidation. Brenton Hunt, of Insolvency Matters, was appointed liquidator of Busy Lizzy Queenstown Ltd earlier this week after the company was placed in liquidation by special resolution of the shareholders. In his first report, Mr Hunt said Busy Lizzy operated a house-cleaning service in the Queenstown area and was incorporated in 2018. Its majority shareholder and sole director was Kristina Delgado, also director of Good Laundry Company 2023, which was also put into liquidation. She is also director of a property…

Allocating different school holiday dates to different regions is worth considering – but could create problems, says the associate education minister.An Education Review Office report on truancy – published today – said the change could reduce the incentive for families to take children out of school early to buy cheaper airfares.The report said term-time holidays were the main attendance challenge facing most schools.Associate Education Minister David Seymour said regional term dates had been discussed.”We’ve had some discussion about that. It’s quite common for example in Germany. But the thing about Germany is they’re a federal country with many different states.…

The collapse of large retailer Smiths City has liquidators expecting many creditors will go unpaid after adding up more than $26.8 million in liabilities. About 240 companies are owed money and unsecured creditors are also likely to be out of pocket after liquidators Colin Gower and Diana Matchett from BDO Christchurch combed through the company’s assets and debts in their first report. “Unfortunately, we do not anticipate that there will be any funds available for a distribution to unsecured creditors,” they said. Founded in 1918, the Christchurch institution operated nine stores mainly in the South Island with a focus on…