In brief
Women won’t pay damages
The two New Zealand women ordered to pay more than $12,000 in damages for allegedly helping persuade pop singer Lorde to cancel a performance in Israel say they will not pay. Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab were found by a court in Israel to have caused “emotional distress” to three ticketholders. Sachs said they would not pay, but would be raising money for a charity in Gaza.
Zealandia weasel trapped
A weasel which found its way into Wellington wildlife sanctuary Zealandia has been caught. The female weasel was found in a trap. The animal’s footprints were detected on October 1, launching a sanctuary-wide incursion response which included setting dozens of traps baited with rabbit meat and eggs.
Bus crashes into shop
Several people were injured yesterday when a bus crashed into a shop in the North Shore suburb of Birkenhead. Police said a man was taken by ambulance to North Shore Hospital with moderate injuries and two children were taken to Starship hospital as a precaution. A woman was also caught up in the drama. The bus driver and passengers were not injured. Three students inside the shop also escaped harm. Passenger sought in fatal car fall
Police are looking for a passenger who was in the same car as Auckland teen Sosiua Helotu Ula, who died after falling out of the vehicle in Porirua on Sunday. Senior Sergeant Christiaan Barnard said he believed Ula, 19, fell out of a black Mercedes. Police have seized the vehicle. The driver was arrested and has appeared in court charged with driving while disqualified and supplying methamphetamine. Barnard said police were also looking for the driver of a silver Mazda RX8. Crewman named, search off
A crewman who fell overboard from a fishing vessel off the Wellington coast has been named, as authorities abandoned a search because of bad weather. Sealord employee P¯atahi Rewi Hawaikirangi K¯awana Jnr has been identified as the missing crewman who fell from FV O¯ t¯akou, near Cape Palliser, on Thursday morning. The 25-year-old deckhand, from Hawke’s Bay, had been a crew member for the vessel for two years.
Greens want drug-checking
The Green Party wants drug-checking legalised in time for summer festival season, after last summer where 21 per cent of pills were not what festivalgoers thought they were. Non-profit group Know Your Stuff NZ has covertly carried out drug-testing at music festivals for the past three summers. Green Party drug-reform spokeswoman Chloe Swarbrick said the group helped people avoid unnecessary tragedy. Making the service legal was commonsense, as festival-goers were unlikely to stop taking drugs, she said.
Serial child sex offender caught
Police are appealing for help to find a serial child sex offender with more than 110 convictions. Darren Albert Jolly has two warrants for his arrest for breaching his probation conditions. Jolly, 52, has associates in Whang¯arei, Auckland, Nelson and Christchurch. His offending dates back to the 1990s.