Developer jailed
A property developer has been jailed for 21⁄2 months for damaging native trees in Auckland. Augustine Lau appeared in the Auckland District Court for sentencing this week. He had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of using land in contravention of regional and district rules under the Resource Management Act. The Auckland Council said he damaged seven protected native trees despite multiple warnings to stop. Judge Paul Kellar said Lau’s purpose in damaging the trees was financial gain, because the views resulting from removal of the trees would have significantly enhanced the value of the property. It was ‘‘hard to imagine a more deliberate case’’, he said. Lau was previously fined $127,500 for depositing hazardous fill near a waterway, and ordered to pay $90,000 court costs after building eight temporary houses that flushed human faeces directly into a stream. The buildings were later demolished at ratepayers’ expense. Environment Court judgments released in 2016 found Lau also subdivided a Mt Albert property, converted a garage into a house and relocated houses in Paremoremo without resource consent. He was accused by neighbours of building a ‘‘slumsville’’.
Fatal collision
A woman died after a car and truck collided in Harewood in Christchurch about 10am yesterday. Police said the woman was initially trapped in the car wreckage but was cut out by firefighters.
$27m for children
More than $27 million is being poured into improving children’s care. New Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children Minister Tracey Martin said there was an urgent need to provide better support for children and young people in care or youth justice services. ‘‘This funding, which was set aside as a contingency in last year’s Budget, will help with this,’’ Martin said.
Man dies of injuries
A man involved in a crash in Canterbury earlier this month has died. Ioane Sitivi, 36, from Fox Glacier, died in Christchurch Hospital on Wednesday from injuries he sustained when two vehicles crashed in Selwyn on January 9.
Overheating kills
A Christchurch woman with multiple sclerosis has died after overheating on Wednesday when temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius. The woman was aged in her early 60s and died from hyperthermia, Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall said. Judge Marshall said people with multiple sclerosis struggled to control their bodies’ temperatures in hot weather. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that can affect movement, sensation and body functions. The North Canterbury town of Waiau reached 37C on Thursday, the warmest temperature recorded in New Zealand in seven years.