Lauren Crimp

The lawyer for the man accused of lighting the Loafers Lodge fire says he had not taken his schizophrenia medication for a month.

He told a forensic psychiatrist voices in his head told him to burn the place down, a court has heard.

The man had been admitted to mental health facilities eight times between 2001 and when the fire was lit.

A church pastor says the Loafers Lodge murder-accused told him he had to run for his life as the Wellington boarding hostel went up in flames.

The Loafers Lodge murder-accused sounded "different" when he talked to his cousin on the phone the day after the fire, the court has heard.

The man's lawyer referred to the serious mental illness while he cross-examined Ministry of Social Development staff.

A 50-year-old man has denied killing five people by setting the boarding house alight.

Dentists are seeing patients with bigger problems - some because they do not have the money for a check up. Audio

Other survivors of the fatal fire have spoken of having to choose between helping their friends and saving their own lives. Audio

CCTV footage shows a resident telling another, who would later die, that someone was "trying to kill" them.

Faamatala Sili watched CCTV footage of the moment he jumped as it was shown to a jury at the High Court in Wellington.

The blaze tore through the Wellington's Loafers Lodge, killing five people.

All five of those who died during the Wellington hostel fire were on fourth floor mezzanine, where Timothy Nevin was sleeping that night. Audio

Noel Wellington has told the High Court that he narrowly avoided a "flashover" that could have killed him.

Brady Cutting has told a court the fire was so hot, he could feel his ears burn when he stood up. Audio

A 50-year-old man is accused of murdering five people by setting Wellington's Loafers Lodge hostel alight in 2023.

A man has pleaded not guilty to murdering five people by setting fire to a Wellington boarding house in 2023.

But another academic says police may struggle to enforce the new rules.

It comes after an officer shot and killed a woman brandishing a hunting knife in Christchurch. Audio

The schedule for planned secondary teacher rolling strikes has been revealed as the minister refuses to budge. Audio

The strike follows what teachers say is an unsatisfactory pay offer from the government.

New Zealander Sarah Shaw and her 6-year-old son thought they were being kidnapped when they were bundled into a white van with no markings at the Canadian border.

Residents at a Wellington complex are taking desperate measures to avoid unbearable heat during summer.

Of nearly 200 health professionals surveyed, 40 percent used AI for patient notes. Audio

Sandy Calkin, 30, died after falling into the harbour near the city's party district in 2021.