The instigator of a brutal, prolonged attack on a young Auckland boxing coach, who then set a house on fire to cover up the murder, has been jailed.

At trial, the Crown said both Greg Hart and his childhood friend Sean Hayde had motive to kill Hart’s flatmate, Wiremu Arapo.

For Hayde it was his anger that Arapo kept interfering in his new relationship with a mutual friend.

On Thursday, the court heard Hayde still denied his involvement in the offending. Justice Geoffrey Venning sentenced him to life imprisonment, ordering him to serve at least 17 years before being eligible for parole.

Emma Priest has cut a name for herself for some forthright opinions on criminal law, providing a voice for and about criminal law and crime generally. Her background in psychology and law has seen her build an impressive career as a leader at the criminal bar, including her development of the “Good Lawyer” platform.

A ketamine addict who committed armed robberies at two banks in the span of a week while suffering drug-induced psychosis has been sentenced to home detention.

“Sorry to be intrusive but this is a bank robbery,” Man Taek Lim, 35, told a teller at a crowded Glenfield Mall ASB branch on Auckland’s North Shore in July 2022. Lim was disguised with a bandanna, a black face mask and black tinted glasses that looked like ski goggles.

He targeted a Kāpiti Coast bank six days later, fleeing with about $1100 after each heist.

Auckland District Court Judge Belinda Sellars acknowledged during today’s sentencing hearing that a non-custodial sentence is rare for a person who admits to two armed bank robberies. But Lim was “an exceptional case”, she said, that “requires an exceptional outcome”.

A serial teen sex offender's battle to keep his name secret has been heard by New Zealand's highest court, in what would be a precedent-setting case.

The 20-year-old man was sentenced in April 2022 to a year's home detention and a year of post-detention counselling and therapy after pleading guilty to multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against six young women, several of whom he went to high school with, in Auckland. The offending occurred between 2017 and 2020, when he was aged 14 to 17.

A man pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder following the death of a man outside a restaurant in Auckland’s Mt Roskill

Tofimua Matagi, 26, died on September 1, after being assaulted at Richardson’s Bar and Restaurant the night before.

Christopher Salt has been charged with murder and appeared at the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday where his lawyer, Emma Priest entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.

Prosecutor Matthew Nathan and Justice Mark Woolford acknowledged a large number of Matagi’s whānau who were present in court.

Justice Woolford set a trial down for November 2024.

Two men beat a former friend to death before they set his house on fire and pretended to rescue the man lying dead inside, the Crown says.

Wiremu Arapo’s body was found with blunt force trauma wounds to his head. Toxicology tests suggest the 27-year-old personal trainer was dead before the fire started.

The Crown says Sean Andrew Hayde and Gregory David Hart murdered Arapo. The pair have pleaded not guilty and are on trial at the High Court in Auckland.

They have also pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by setting fire to the Cockle Bay house.

A young LGBTQ rights activist who was filmed punching a 71-year-old woman in the head during the heated Posie Parker counter-protest in Auckland this year has pleaded guilty to assault.

The 21-year-old Gisborne resident, who continues to have interim name suppression, appeared in Auckland District Court today.

Judge Debra Bell granted defence lawyer Emma Priest’s request to not yet enter a conviction until sentencing. A date for that hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The victim, who did not attend today’s hearing, told the Herald she was pleased to hear about the guilty plea.

Opinion

Crime is drawing a great deal of debate in this election year.

Crime is a problem in New Zealand, likely an increasing one. People agree about wanting to reduce or stop crime. The divergence in opinions comes with regard to how we can achieve that.

An underlying theme from some quarters is that if we were “tougher on crime”, that would somehow reduce it. This is proven not to be true.

National leader Christopher Luxon’s justice policies started this.

The potential offer for police diversion application for the man charged after an assault of a pensioner at the Posie Parker rally in March was an administrative error and has been withdrawn.

And police have confirmed the man involved is now set for another court date.

The Herald can reveal the 20-year-old’s case will be reviewed in the Auckland District Court next month. He’s pleaded not guilty after a 71-year-old nana of six was allegedly assaulted at Albert Park.

The man first appeared in Auckland District Court on April 20 and was granted interim name suppression. It was reported he had been accepted on the police diversion scheme in the Gisborne District Court.

A business owner who fled the scene after causing the death of his formerly high-profile employee - early 2000s television star Lionel Allan - following a Friday evening of post-work drinks was berated by mourning whānau today as he was sentenced to home detention and ordered to pay $20,000 in reparations.

“Murderer!” one supporter yelled as Wiremu Gray, 42, was led by security out of the dock in the filled-to-capacity Waitākere District Court.

Gray had previously pleaded guilty to two charges: careless driving causing death, which carries a maximum punishment of three months’ imprisonment, and failure to stop and ascertain injury, which is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.