Double Lotto win
An Auckland man has won Lotto first division twice – once on each of two tickets he bought for the draw on Saturday April 7. The prize was $333,333, giving the man a total haul of $666,666. ‘‘I had no idea that the store had sold any big winners, let alone two, ... I put the tickets under the selfchecker ... and up popped a message I’d never seen before. I didn’t know what to think, so I handed them to the lady. I couldn’t believe it when she told me I’d won $333,333 – twice!’’
Fatal motorbike crashes
Social media star and selfdescribed ‘‘amateur stuntman’’ Johnny ‘‘Danger’’ Bennett died in a motorbike crash on Dairy Flat Highway, north Auckland, about 2.30pm on Wednesday. Bennett was on an Anzac Day ride with an organisation that raises money for charity, when he died. A second fatal motorcycle crash occurred on Wednesday in Waitakere about 3pm. Police said the rider, a man in his 60s, died at the scene. A woman was left with 73 bruises after a three-hour assault by Justin Matthew Mcallister that included strangling her unconscious with a rope.
The 40-year-old pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court yesterday to injuring the woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and breaching a protection order the woman took out after the assault.
The Crown said Mcallister and the victim knew each other. About two hours before she went to his house on June 6, 2017, Mcallister was recorded on his own security camera cutting a length of white rope. He burned the ends of the rope and placed it in his pocket.
Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier said that soon after the woman arrived, about 8.30pm, Mcallister struck her on the right temple and kicked her on the hip while she was on the floor.
While she crawled to a couch, he jumped on to her back by driving his knees into her, and then pushed her head into the floor.
He pushed her face down into a pillow and slapped and punched her head.
When he looked through her phone, he became upset because she had told a friend he had previously hit her. He punched her in the stomach and head, causing her to fall again, this time on to a table.
This part of the three-hour assault was recorded on camera but the pair then went out of view, though there is a view of Mcallister kicking.
He then took the rope out of his pocket and tied it around the victim’s neck. He used the rope to pull her off the couch and on to her hands and knees. The woman put her hand into the rope to make space to breathe.
He told her every time he thought she was lying he would tighten the rope. He tightened it six to seven times until it was so tight she could not breathe and passed out.
When she regained consciousness, the beating continued, with Mcallister telling her she deserved it. He covered her mouth and nose with his hands until she passed out again.
The pair went back into the camera’s view at 11.14pm, when Mcallister dragged her and appeared to smother her face with a jacket. He then stood over her and kicked her. At 11.35pm, a white rope was seen thrown into view while the pair were out of shot.
He then made her drive him to see some people but found a message from a friend on her phone that led to more punches.
He made her drop him home and told her she had half an hour to collect her suitcase from a friend’s house. When the friend saw her injuries, she told her she could stay.
Mcallister sent the victim a threatening video message about her family a few days later and sent her a letter after that – in breach of the protection order she took out against him.
Judge Jane Farish remanded Mcallister in custody for sentencing on July 4.