Accessory charge quashed

The conviction of a man who pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder has been quashed by the Court of Appeal. Ruarangi Waitai Mcintyre pleaded guilty to being accessory to murder after the death of Ronald Clayton Karipa, 42, in West Auckland in October, 2016. However, during the trial of the main offender, Michael Ford defended the murder charge, claiming self defence, and was acquitted. Following Ford’s acquittal, Mcintyre appealed his own conviction of being accessory to the murder. In the Court of Appeal decision, the judges found the Crown prosecutor could only succeed on a charge of accessory after the fact by proving the substantive crime was committed. As the murder was found to be self-defence, Mcintyre could not be an accessory to a murder that did not occur, the decision said.

Bee disease outbreak

Hawke’s Bay beekeepers have been warned to be vigilant after 66 cases of american foulbrood disease have been confirmed over the past three months. On Saturday, Havelock North beekeeper John Berry said there had been a ‘‘major AFB outbreak’’ in the greater Hastings area. Clifton King, the national compliance manager of the AFB National Pest Management Plan, said the number of cases was ‘‘a little bit more’’ than usual, but was not a dramatic increase. ‘‘We’re working with beekeepers in the area to increase surveillance.’’

Senior officer faces charges

A senior police officer in Northland is facing criminal charges after a woman made a complaint of sexual abuse. The woman alleged the officer brought her flowers and nicknamed her "Spice" before sexually abusing her over several years. Detective Superintendent Chris Page said yesterday, eight months after the complaint, that a decision had been made to charge the man with two counts of indecent assault and one of sexual violation. He was due to appear in the North Shore District Court in January next year. The officer was stood down from duty while the investigation took place.

Disease on Hastings farm

The cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has been found on a Hastings farm. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) yesterday identified four new properties as positive for the bacterial cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis. One of the latest infected properties is in the Hastings district, the other three are in Winton. A fourth property, in Ashburton, is strongly suspected to be infected. MPI’S director of response Geoff Gwyn said it appeared all the properties had links with the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group (VLDG) through cattle movements. ‘‘The Hastings and Ashburton properties were identified through our tracing programme and the Winton property was identified through the industry milk testing programme.’’ All of the movements had occurred before July 21, when the disease was first detected and notified to MPI.