Stories by Anneke Smith

District and Youth Courts typically hear about 72,000 hearings a month, but Covid-19 protocols mean just 12,500 will be able to go ahead over the next month.

Today is Rotorua Coroner Wallace Bain's last day at work after 28 years of service.

Court cases are being heard remotely and prisons have shut their gates to visitors as measures to combat Covid-19 ramp up.

A prisoner accused of murdering another inmate has objected to appearing via audio-visual link for a court hearing.

The 29-year-old police officer accused of groping his female colleague and later raping her in a Kerikeri motel as she slept has been found guilty.

The man who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane is appealing his conviction and sentence.

The Crown says a police officer accused of raping his colleague lied to his boss, washed himself and destroyed evidence to cover up the crime.

Myron Felise was jailed for killing 18-year-old Eli Holtz after the teen fired a water pistol at him. He appealed his sentence, arguing PTSD and a deprived background.

The jury in the trial of a police officer accused of raping his colleague has heard the man called a lawyer he knew shortly after the alleged assault.

Coronial services have come under strain in recent years as deaths and caseloads have steadily increased.

The jury in the trial of a police officer accused of raping his colleague has now heard a third version of what happened that night.

A police colleague of a woman who says another officer raped her has described both parties' accounts of that night.

A British national arrested after a 200kg methamphetamine haul in central Auckland has pleaded guilty.

A defence lawyer has suggested a rape accuser was embarrassed after "hooking up" with her colleague - a policeman - and would rather label him a rapist than face up to cheating.

A policewoman who says she was raped by a colleague has been accused of lying by her alleged attacker's lawyer.

A policewoman has told a jury in the rape trial of another officer that, with other police in the motel at the time, she should have been safe from sexual assault.

The jury in the trial of a police officer accused of raping his colleague has watched CCTV footage of the night that shows a senior sergeant exposing himself during a night of drinking.

A female police officer has described waking up in pain as her colleague raped her in a Northland motel.

A police officer has gone on trial accused of raping a female colleague in Northland.

The disgraced Masala Indian restaurant boss and a former accountant and business associate have been sentenced for tax evasion and money laundering.

The Crown has sought to charge an Auckland man with terrorism in what would be the second case in New Zealand history.

A West Auckland man who killed his mother with a hammer has been found guilty of murdering her.

Four men facing Serious Fraud Office charges over donations made to the National Party - including MP Jami-Lee Ross - have pleaded not guilty at their first court appearance.

A man who targeted an Asian family in a road rage rampage received a "manifestly inadequate" jail term, Crown law has argued.

The detective in charge of the investigation into Grace Millane's murder says the so-called "rough sex defence" used in the trial repeatedly victimised her family.