Whakatāne homicide: Women accused of killing 8-year-old Rickah'Shae Keefe-Haerewa face additional charges
The charge notice alleges she used a cord, and a pole or stick, as weapons.
Timu faces six charges relating to Rickah'Shae – including manslaughter and two charges of assaulting a child, which she previously pleaded not guilty to.
Pauline Timu (left) and Maya Hati, pictured at earlier appearances, face charges of violence, and the ill-treatment of a child. Composite image / Hannah Bartlett
She's now also charged with ill-treatment of a child, and two charges of assault with a weapon, which she denies.
She too is alleged to have used a cord, and a pole or stick, as weapons.
Hati now faces three charges related to a further child, added to the same charge notice as the Rickah'Shae charges.
They are assault of a child, assault with a weapon, and ill-treatment of a child.
Timu also faces the same three charges, against the same child.
An investigation into Rickah'Shae's death began after police were called to Whakatāne Hospital in November last year, after the child died following an alleged assault.
A scene examination was carried out at a property in the small town of Te Teko.
Rickah'Shae Keefe-Haerewa, also known as Joppy.
Hati was charged first over Rickah'Shae's death, with Timu's charges following.
Family members posted tributes to the young boy, who also went by the nickname Joppy, online.
'Mummy and Daddy love you. Forever 8 my son.'
At earlier court appearances, supporters of Rickah'Shae wore 'Forever 8″ hoodies and T-shirts to the proceedings.
At Hati's previous appearance in Tauranga, emotions ran high for both families; as Hati's family expressed their love and support for her as she left the dock, a single voice from the boy's family was heard to allege, 'You killed my baby'.
Supporters for Hati, Timu and Rickah'Shae, were present in court on Wednesday.
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Napier drug dealer Kevan Salisbury offered to sell meth and fantasy by the litre
By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of Kevan Darryl Salisbury admitted offering to sell methamphetamine on 19 occasions, as well as the drug fantasy in liquid form. Photo: Supplied / NZME A man with a long drug dealing history is awaiting another sentence after offering to sell methamphetamine and the dangerous party drug fantasy by the litre. Kevan Darryl Salisbury has pleaded guilty in the Napier District Court to nine charges, including supplying and offering to supply meth, supplying and offering to supply fantasy, and possession of a home-made taser. He is due to be sentenced in October. Salisbury has a criminal history stretching back to 2010, when he was caught up in a police crackdown on the retail chain Switched on Gardener , where people could buy cannabis-growing supplies . In that year, he received 10 months of home detention stemming from the commercial cultivation of cannabis at his work address and home. In 2015, he was sent to prison for two years and two months on further charges of cultivating cannabis, offering to sell cannabis oil and assaulting his partner. The drugs charges had been laid after police searched his home in July 2015 and found 24 cannabis plants. Data on his phone showed he had been offering to supply cannabis oil to various associates. Phone data again proved Salisbury's downfall in his latest offending. Police obtained a court order on 10 March this year which allowed them to access his phone data from 1 January to 1 March, 2025. They found evidence of numerous offers to supply methamphetamine and fantasy. For many the quantities involved could not be confirmed, so "the full extent of the defendant's drug dealing remains unknown", according to a Crown summary of facts. However, Salisbury pleaded guilty to representative charges of offering to supply methamphetamine on 19 separate occasions, with total known quantities of 32.75g. He offered to supply a gram of meth to 11 different people in a single day. He admitted supplying meth on at least three occasions. Salisbury offered to supply fantasy at least 11 times, with known quantities totalling 3.18 litres. The Switched on Gardener store in Hastings, photographed in 2010. Police cracked down on the national chain, which was selling growing equipment to cannabis growers. Kevan Darryl Salisbury was working for Switched on Gardener in 2010. Photo: Supplied / NZME On 27 February, Salisbury offered to sell two litres of fantasy to two prospective buyers, for $1000. On 1 March, he offered three people the chance to buy 500ml for $250. Fantasy is the common name for a range of drugs, including gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), 1,4 butanediol (1,4-BD) and gamma butyrolactone (GBL). GBL converts to GHB in the body when ingested and is sometimes associated with "date rape" due to its sedative and mind-altering effects. The Crown summary of facts said GBL was highly hazardous, "as it can cause euphoria, sedation, unconsciousness and even death, with a very narrow margin between a safe and lethal dose". Police raided Salisbury's Napier home on 2 April, 2025. As they arrived, he tried to throw a small container containing cannabis plant material and seeds out his bedroom window. When searching the bedroom, police found 3g of methamphetamine, cannabis and a home-made taser. In the lounge, police found methamphetamine utensils, more cannabis, and a slug gun near the front door. The total amount of cannabis taken from the property was 109.5g. Salisbury refused to provide the pin for his cellphone. On Friday, he admitted supplying methamphetamine, offering to supply meth, possessing meth, supplying fantasy, offering to supply fantasy, possessing cannabis, possessing a restricted weapon, possessing drug utensils and failing to comply with a search. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Long-standing Napier drug dealer Kevan Salisbury admits offering to sell meth and party drug fantasy
In that year, he received 10 months of home detention stemming from the commercial cultivation of cannabis at his work address and home. In 2015, he was sent to prison for two years and two months on further charges of cultivating cannabis, offering to sell cannabis oil and assaulting his partner. The drugs charges had been laid after police searched his home in July 2015 and found 24 cannabis plants. Data on his phone showed he had been offering to supply cannabis oil to various associates. Phone data again proved Salisbury's downfall in his latest offending. Police obtained a court order on March 10 this year which allowed them to access his phone data from January 1 to March 1, 2025. They found evidence of numerous offers to supply methamphetamine and fantasy. For many the quantities involved could not be confirmed, so 'the full extent of the defendant's drug dealing remains unknown', according to a Crown summary of facts. However, Salisbury pleaded guilty to representative charges of offering to supply methamphetamine on 19 separate occasions, with total known quantities of 32.75g. He offered to supply a gram of meth to 11 different people in a single day. He admitted supplying meth on at least three occasions. Salisbury offered to supply fantasy at least 11 times, with known quantities totalling 3.18 litres. The Switched on Gardener store in Hastings, photographed in 2010. Police cracked down on the national chain, which was selling growing equipment to cannabis growers. Kevan Darryl Salisbury was working for Switched on Gardener in 2010. Photo / NZME On February 27, Salisbury offered to sell two litres of fantasy to two prospective buyers, for $1000. On March 1, he offered three people the chance to buy 500ml for $250. Fantasy is the common name for a range of drugs, including gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), 1,4 butanediol (1,4-BD) and gamma butyrolactone (GBL). GBL converts to GHB in the body when ingested and is sometimes associated with 'date rape' due to its sedative and mind-altering effects. The Crown summary of facts said GBL was highly hazardous, 'as it can cause euphoria, sedation, unconsciousness and even death, with a very narrow margin between a safe and lethal dose'. Police raided Salisbury's Napier home on April 2, 2025. As they arrived, he tried to throw a small container containing cannabis plant material and seeds out his bedroom window. When searching the bedroom, police found 3g of methamphetamine, cannabis and a home-made taser. In the lounge, police found methamphetamine utensils, more cannabis, and a slug gun near the front door. The total amount of cannabis taken from the property was 109.5g. Salisbury refused to provide the pin for his cellphone. On Friday, he admitted supplying methamphetamine, offering to supply meth, possessing meth, supplying fantasy, offering to supply fantasy, possessing cannabis, possessing a restricted weapon, possessing drug utensils and failing to comply with a search. Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME's Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke's Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.
NZ Herald
15 hours ago
- NZ Herald
SkyCity Adelaide historically put profit over compliance, investigation finds
He cited an analyst being 'met with significant resistance from many heads of business divisions. In particular, international business and the VIP division were hostile and did not wish to pursue customers in order to obtain appropriate information,' he wrote. In an anti-money laundering analyst's view, the primary concern was generating income. This attitude was demonstrated when management lamented losing a high-value customer to barring, stating 'not a good result to have this barring in place for two years ... [the customer] is sitting on roughly A$900,000 loss year to date.' Jarden's Auckland-based analysts Adrian Allbon and Mark Seddon noted this in a desk note on the review, released yesterday. 'For SkyCity, suitability has been confirmed: Adelaide to continue holding its casino licence and SkyCity as an ongoing owner of Adelaide casino. This was an expected outcome for us following the SKC management changes and the material cost commitment over the next three years to lift its operating standards,' the analysts wrote. Martin's report highlighted significant failings of the casino management. Yet both his and the investigations undertaken by the financial regulator, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), also noted SkyCity Adelaide's substantial commitment to addressing those failings. 'If I had been asked to determine the suitability of the licensee and SkyCity Entertainment Group at the end of October 2021, the inevitable answer would have been that neither were suitable,' Martin wrote. Adelaide gained National Park City status in 2021. Photo / Joe Nes 'Since then, the situation has changed.' Later in his report, he wrote: 'The significance of past failures needs to be considered in the context of the licensee's subsequent behaviour, changes in personnel and the licensee's current corporate culture and governance. 'I am satisfied that, today, the licensee is a suitable person to hold the licence and operate the casino.' Martin's review began in mid-2022, building on extensive investigations then being progressed by Consumer and Business Services. The review was put on hold between February 2023 and June 2024, while Austrac took civil action against SkyCity Adelaide in the Federal Court of Australia for breaching Australia's national Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. The report detailed systematic anti-money laundering failures through case studies. Martin found material corporate governance failures spanning more than two decades. SkyCity chairman Julian Cook apologised. Photo / Cameron Pitney From 1999 until November 2021, 'the board of the licensee, SkyCity Adelaide, the holder of the licence to operate the casino, did not meet' and 'no reports were provided to the board of the licensee relating to SkyCity Adelaide's compliance obligations or functions'. Last May, the Herald reported SkyCity had agreed to pay a penalty of A$67 million for anti-money laundering breaches in Adelaide. SkyCity Adelaide had reached an agreement with Austrac to settle civil penalty proceedings relating to the breaches from December 2016 to mid-December 2022. Under the agreement, SkyCity Adelaide and Austrac filed a statement of agreed facts and admissions, as well as joint submissions, with the Federal Court. SkyCity's executive chairman, Julian Cook, acknowledged the casino operator's failure to meet the required standards and apologised for it. Yesterday, SkyCity chief executive Jason Walbridge said in a statement to the NZX that it accepted the findings of the report. 'We fully accept and acknowledge the findings of the report that we did not measure up to the standards required, and we apologise for those failings. 'We further acknowledge Mr Martin's findings and the commissioner's comments that we still have work to do.' Walbridge said it remained committed to constructive engagement with all its regulators. 'We have made significant enhancements in terms of leadership, resourcing and systems, including a commitment to invest ~$60m over three years to transform our culture, to uplift our financial crime and host responsibility practices. 'Our team has worked hard to raise our standards, better meet our obligations and improve how we look after our customers.' SkyCity's shares were trading flat this morning at 99c but are down nearly 35% over the past year. Anne Gibson has been the Herald's property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
