Shot man in hospital
A man is in an Auckland hospital after being shot yesterday morning. He was injured in an altercation in Mt Albert shortly before 9am. Police said the man had sustained a back injury and was taken to hospital in a moderate condition.
Sea search now a recovery
Police hope to bring the body of a teenage swimmer home to his family after he went missing off a Christchurch beach. The 14-year-old Linwood boy was swimming with a friend at Sumner’s Scarborough Beach when they got into trouble about 3.20pm on Monday. His friend got himself to shore. Canterbury police metro area commander Superintendent Lane Todd said yesterday there had been a ‘‘concerted’’ effort to find the teenager. ‘‘But unfortunately we are now into a [body] recovery phase,’’ he said.
Drowning victim named
The man who drowned at Awhitu Regional Park on Sunday was 40-year-old Imtiaz Aziz, from Papakura, south Auckland.
Weather data may help case
Specialist weather data is being collected by police investigating a case in which two pre-schoolers were allegedly left in a locked car in 29 degrees Celsius heat by their grandfather. The police said Metservice data would help pinpoint the temperature inside the car at the time in which the two boys, aged 2 and 4, were found inside at The Base car park in Hamilton on Sunday, January 28. The 59-year-old Putaruru man had gone to get takeaways in a foodcourt, leaving the children strapped into car seats in the vehicle parked in the outdoor car park around 1pm. Members of the public saw the children in the car in a ‘‘hot and sweaty’’ state and were able to get inside via one of the windows that had been left partially down. Both children were taken from the car and treated by ambulance staff at the scene.
Former judge dies
A former district court and ACC tribunal judge who was subject to a high-profile legal case of his own died on Sunday at the age of 74. In 1997, Judge Martin Beattie refused to resign despite widespread condemnation for filing false expenses claims worth $10,000. While working as a circuit judge in Northland in the 1990s, Beattie claimed accommodation expenses for nights he spent at home as well as travel expenses to get home. This led to him being charged with 45 counts of fraud, totalling $10,000. During the trial in 1997, Beattie’s lawyer argued Beattie had believed he was entitled to the expenses whether he stayed in a hotel or not, and had never been advised otherwise. He pleaded not guilty, the jury agreed, and Beattie kept his job. He did, however, pay back the $10,000. Beattie was transferred to the ACC tribunal and received extensive criticism for not resigning out of duty.