Napier CBD's only pharmacy raided for third time in 10 weeks
business crime 28 minutes ago
Thieves have targeted central Napier's only pharmacy for a third time in 10 weeks. Life Pharmacy owner Peter Bailey spoke to Charlotte Cook.

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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Health agencies criticised by Family Court Judge for legal appeal ‘distraction'
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver A judge has chastised government agencies for wasting public money and the court's time trying to recall her judgement criticising the living conditions of an autistic man held at Auckland's Mason Clinic. The man, who has been detained in near-isolation for 19 years, lives in noisy conditions despite his extreme sensitivity to loud sounds and a belief he should be moved. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, last year became so distressed by construction noise next door he twice stuffed paper into his ears , requiring doctors to remove it. In a September judgement, Family Court Judge Penelope Matalavea (formerly Ginnen) criticised the man's "untenable" situation, stating the Health Ministry's inadequate funding hindered his quality of life. The man has been detained under the Intellectual Disability Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation Act since 2006. His care order has been extended 11 times as experts have repeatedly assessed him as being too dangerous to release, and he has spent the past five years mostly in seclusion at the Mason Clinic. The Supreme Court heard an appeal from the man's mother in August arguing his detention is unlawful. Ten months on, the court has yet to issue its decision. Auckland's Mason Clinic, where the man at the centre of the legal argument is held. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly In November, the Ministry of Social Development made an application to recall Judge Matalavea's September decision, saying the court had been "misinformed". It said there had been 14 "notifiable incidents" that had occurred regarding the man's behaviour that had not been reported to the ministry by the Mason Clinic until weeks after they had occurred. The ministry said the failure to include these incidents at the hearing may have led to Judge Matalavea misunderstanding the constraints and limitations around the care provided to the man. In a decision released today, Judge Matalavea called the recall application a "distraction" and questioned the amount of public resource being put into it. "I noted public funds are constrained, and it is all public funds that would be applied to the two-day hearing. Everybody, from me as the Judge, to the litigants and the lawyers and the district inspector is publicly funded." In May, the ministry proposed an alternative, seeking permission to withdraw its recall application and instead file affidavits with the court to ensure its evidence sat on the file. In her decision, Judge Matalavea supported that idea, giving the ministry leave to file the evidence, though she conceded such action was unlikely to have any impact because her decision had already been issued. "This is an unorthodox approach, but a pragmatic resolution to a complex situation." Given the complexity of the case and the fact that all parties were publicly-funded, Judge Matalavea gave no order for costs. Human rights lawyer Tony Ellis, who was counsel for the man's mother, told RNZ he would be appealing the no costs ruling. "I'm not publicly funded, I've been doing this work for eight years for free." Ellis said he had told the court several times that he received no fee at all. He was also disappointed that while this legal stoush had been going on, there had been no change in the man's living situation. "And ten months after the Supreme Court hearing we are still waiting for the decision. It's not a very satisfactory result for the man or his mother," Ellis said.

RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Napier pharmacy owner considers closing after being raided three times in 10 weeks
Life Pharmacy in Napier. Photo: Google Maps Street View A Napier pharmacy owner says he's contemplating shutting up shop after his store was raided for the third time in just 10 weeks. Police say they responded to a burglary at Life Pharmacy in Napier at 2.30 am on Monday, where thieves had smashed through the stores front door in search of expensive perfumes. Pharmacy owner Peter Bailey has worked at the store for 45 years. He said the stores front door had to be replaced three times since the break-ins started 10 weeks ago, costing him an estimated $30,000. "Our insurance company isn't going to be very happy, I can see our premiums going through the roof - it just makes it tougher in a tough environment." He said the thefts left him "a bit stressed and emotional", but was thankful for the Napier community that had supported him and other staff members. "We've got some amazing customers who have been into see us in the last couple days," Bailey said. "We had a gentleman drop in a $50 coffee voucher for the staff." He said pharmacies were already a struggling businesses, and he had already seen them start to disappear from the city. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Former ACT Party president Tim Jago appeals sexual abuse conviction and sentence
Tim Jago was found guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys in the 1990s. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro A court has heard former ACT Party president Tim Jago's appeal against his sexual abuse conviction and sentence. Jago was found guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys in the 1990s after a jury trial last year. One of the boys was under 16 years old, and the other was over 16 years old. Jago sought to have his conviction overturned as a miscarriage of justice, arguing the jury had reached an unreasonable verdict and that the judge's summary was unbalanced. Jago appeared remotely from custody at the Court of Appeal in Auckland today as he served his two and a half year sentence. His lawyer Ian Brookie explained the two-pronged appeal. Brookie first argued that Jago's conviction was unreasonable and that the jury should have entertained reasonable doubt. Central to his argument was that Paul Oliver - a survivor who waived his name suppression - was uncertain of the timing and location of the assault when questioned during the trial. "What we say is the evidence and the issues with evidence with reliability… There's just no way a jury could have fairly convicted this man," Brookie said. "Our submission is that evidence was so unreliable the jury should have entertained reasonable doubt." Brookie also took issue with the judge's summary before sending the jury to deliberate. The judge had advised the jury that the historic nature of the complaint, which came more than two decades after the assault, did not mean it was necessarily untrue. Brookie argued the judge should have balanced this statement with the defence's argument that the complaint could have been false. "The concern here is the jury is effectively being told by the judge that a delayed complaint is not untrue," he said. However, Crown lawyer Robin McCoubrey disagreed. "The very purpose [of the judge's statement] is to provide balance to correct the misconception that [a delayed complaint is more likely to be false]," McCoubrey argued. The second part of the appeal was that Jago's sentence was too harsh and that he should have been sentenced to home detention instead of imprisonment. Brookie argued it was wrong to characterise the offending on the whole as "sexual offending against children," because only one of the two complainants was under the age of sixteen at the time. He also said Jago should have been given a bigger discount for community contributions, though the Crown argued the discount he received was adequate. "The only just and considered response should have been home detention," Brookie said. "Ultimately, there was just a plain wrong decision not to impose home detention here. It was not appropriate to say deterrence required imprisonment." The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision for a later date. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.