Latest news with #Karori
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Judge drops murder charges related to Karori death after deemed unsafe for jury
The women has permanent name suppression. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Charges have been dropped in a Wellington High Court trial after the judge ruled, on the basis of the Crown's evidence, it was not safe for a jury to convict. A woman, who has permanent name suppression, has been on trial since early May, facing a charge of being party to murder for the death of Rau Tongia, who died in Karori in 2020. Two women were convicted of his murder in a trial last year and a total of seven people have faced charges in relation to his death. The Crown alleged that the woman on trial had sent Facebook messages to Shayde Weston, one of the two women convicted of his murder , which incited the killing. Justice Paul Radich told the jury on Thursday morning there was no evidence that those Facebook messages had been received or read by Weston. Justice Radich said following the end of the Crown's case an application to drop the charges, which was made by the woman's defence lawyer Elizabeth Hall, had been made. He said it was one of the rare cases where an application was granted and the charge dismissed. Following the charge being dropped, the woman was visibly relieved. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Wellington City Council considers spend on Khandallah Pool, Begonia House, water infrastructure and cycleways
A Wellington City Council meeting on Thursday will decide the fate of beloved community assets, including Begonia House. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone A major Wellington City Council meeting, partially born from its failed airport share sale, will decide the fate of Begonia House, the Karori events centre and water reform in the capital. In October last year the council voted not to sell its 34 percent stake in the Wellington International Airport as part of its 10-year budget - the long term plan. The sale meant the plan needed to be amended. The changes saw then Local Government Minister Simeon Brown install Lindsay McKenzie on the council as a crown observer . Due to the lack of the airport share sale the council has had to look at setting up a small investment fund via ground leases and cutting back funding for projects and assets. That has led to Thursday's council meeting, where, following a round of consultation which saw over 3000 submissions, councillors will vote on the amended long term budget. The council's decision not to sell its 34 percent stake in Wellington International Airport has meant its long term plan needs to be amended. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver As part of this process, council officers had recommended the demolition of Begonia House - a popular greenhouse built in 1960 to house exotic plants at the city's botanic gardens. It sparked a fierce public campaign to "save Begonia House" which council agreed to do in principle following public consultation. Council officers have recommended to do the minimum required work to keep the building open at a cost between $9.9 and $11 million, but it would not address all safety and environmental concerns. A petition will be presented at the meeting by the Save Begonia House campaign which had 5357 signatures. Like Begonia House, Khandallah Pool, which has been in operation for 100 years, has had an axe hovering over it due to its aging pool tank which sparked a similar campaign amongst locals. It also faces flood risks with its proximity to Tyers Stream. In May last year a report found it would be possible to keep the pool open within a budget of $7.5m. But council officers have still recommended that the facility be demolished due to the need to create debt headroom and the fact the pool accounted for less than one percent of the overall usage of Wellington's pools. It would cost $4.5m to demolish the pool and landscape the site. Councillor Diane Calvert had been a strong advocate to save the facility. It was understood by RNZ that an amendment will be brought forward by Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau to fund a fix for it. Calvert said she appreciated the support of the mayor. "I'm pretty confident that the council will reaffirm its commitment to refurbish the pool within the budget we set three years ago." Councillor Diane Calvert has been a strong advocate to save Khandallah Pool. Photo: The Karori Events Centre is a project that was born from a lack of community halls in the suburb. $2.2m was raised by the locals to build the facility with the shell of the building having been completed in 2018. It was gifted to the council in December 2022 with the intention of them funding the rest of the fit-out of the building, which the council agreed to at a maximum cost of $1.9m. The council said it would now cost $3.3m to do that work, and its staff recommended it be sold. Consultation on the plan overwhelmingly rejected the council's preferred option, with 62 percent of submitters having indicated a preference to invest more money in the project to finish it. Chair of the Karori Event Centre trust Heather Baldwin told RNZ she was pleased with the number of submissions that shared their support for the facility. "We were just flabbergasted when we saw that the recommendation is that they sell the building. "We just think that is such a breach of bad faith." Baldwin said that it did not make sense to go through a consultation process if the community was then going to be ignored. Paneke Pōneke is Wellington's cycle network plan which was adopted in March 2022 and was an update of a cycle masterplan which was created 10 years ago. It aimed to deliver a comprehensive bike network for the capital by 2031. But due to a reduction in funding from NZTA Waka Kotahi that plan has been derailed and the council will now vote on finishing the bike network over a 20-year period rather than a 10-year period. The council will vote on whether to delay finishing Wellington's cycle network plan. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman That change would reduce its budget from $115.2m to $66.9m in the long term plan. Cycling Network volunteer Patrick Morgan said that the slowdown of building bike lanes would be a mistake but understood that a reduction in central government funding put pressure on the council. "I understand that some may think let's slow down the rate of moving bike lanes, advocates think that would be a mistake because of the huge benefits of building protected bike lanes." Councillors will also vote on what water service model to use as a replacement for Wellington Water. Under the government's Local Water Done Well reform councils have to decide on how they can set up sustainable organisations to manage water and its related stormwater, sewage and drinking water pipes. Councils must come up with a water service delivery plan by 3 September 2025. Wellington City Council consulted a status quo option, setting up council organisation that solely controls Wellington's pipes and a multi-council water organisation co-owned by Wellington City, Upper Hutt City, Hutt City, Porirua City and Greater Wellington Regional councils. The multi-council options have been recommended by council officers due a range of benefits such as its access to additional borrowing for investment and its size which would allow the organisation to enter better contracts. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- RNZ News
Murder was sparked by 'kill him' Facebook message, court hears
The messages were found by police in data seized from Facebook's parent company Meta. File photo. Photo: 123RF A woman's Facebook messages led to the murder of a Wellington man, a jury has been told. The 40-year-old woman - whose name is suppressed - has pleaded not guilty to being party to the murder of Rau Tongia in a trial at the High Court in Wellington. Tongia was shot in his Karori home in the early hours of 20 December 2020. In a trial that began on Monday, Crown prosecutors told the jury that moments after the defendant sent messages saying "kill him" and "this n***** needs to go permanently", a woman was on her way to Tongia's house with a gun. But the defence said Tongia's death had nothing to do with any messages and was related to an assault on the woman - Shayde Weston - earlier in the evening. Weston was one of two women convicted of Tongia's murder in a three-month long murder trial last year. Defence lawyer Elizabeth Hall said her client and Tongia had known each other for years, and had a "friends with benefits" relationship. She said Tongia was unpredictable and violent, and that the jury would hear evidence that he attacked Weston while she slept after seeing Weston and her client kiss. Hall said Weston made threats to kill Tongia, but her client did not take those threats seriously. Later in the night, Weston returned to the address with friends and weapons and Tongia was hit in the head with a hammer, she said. Police were called, but left after no one made a statement. Outlining the Crown's case, prosecutor Tamara Jenkin said after the altercation with the hammer, Tongia attacked the defendant and put her in a choke hold. She said because of this the defendant was angry and wanted Tongia dead, and knew Weston would want revenge for the assault on her earlier in the night. Jenkin said the defendant sent Facebook messages to Weston encouraging her to kill Tongia, and three minutes later, Weston was on her way to the house with a shotgun. She said the messages were found by police in data seized from Facebook's parent company Meta. She said the timing was not a coincidence and the Crown's case was that the messages directly abetted, incited or counselled Weston to commit murder. Hall said her client did not remember sending any messages, and that messages received on Weston's old Facebook account had no impact. "Weston did what she did without any incitement or encouragement... by the time those messages were sent Shayde Weston was already well on her way to carrying out her plan to kill Rau Tongia." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
11-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Social media can be positive for teenagers, coaches and teachers say
Pirates Swim Team in Karori. Photo: Supplied / Pirates Swim Team Sports coaches and dance teachers say social media can be positive and inspiring for teenagers as they learn to juggle schedules and responsibility. The National Party wants to ban children under 16 from accessing social media by forcing companies to use age verification measures. MP Catherine Wedd, with the backing of leader Christopher Luxon, has put forward a members' bill which would follow Australia's lead on cracking down on the social media giants. Wellington swim coach Steve Francis said he emailed the parents of younger children having swimming lessons, but when it came to communicating with his training squads, for those over 12, the onus was on the teens to text him or message him on social media if they were sick or could not come. Francis, who is the head coach of Pirates Swim Team in Karori, said parents get a "constant influx" of emails from school and activity groups, so it made sense to contact the swimmers directly. "So for example, if they can't make sessions, or [they're] sick or whatever, the onus is on them to let me know. They can either message me on social media or they can text me or they can email whatever is easiest to them." They also have a group chat on WhatsApp. "The reason that I've put it on there is because I've set the controls so that only I can message on that group ... with teenagers it can turn into a free for all pretty quickly." He used to run a group message on Instagram. "That could get pretty messy. So I wanted it to be a really simple way of communicating, somewhere I can upload information that they need to know, but they can't reply back. They can message me directly, which they do. But on that group chat I've changed the settings so that they can't reply, which I found works really well." It was important as an adult communicating with minors directly to keep his replies "very basic", he added. "If the younger squads message me to say they're sick or whatever, I just give them a thumbs up, or I say thanks for letting me know. I try not to engage in conversation." Social media was just one part of the teenagers' progress into adulthood, he said. "Our swimmers are here at 5am and then back again in the evening. I see them get their learner's licence and then their restricted and they start driving themselves to the pool. Gradually as they get into those teen years, it's also about the parents being able to just step back, and let them be in charge of their own swim journey." A Dunedin dance teacher said apps like Instagram were a great way to share inspiring and instructional videos to her older students. Angelina Cockerill, who runs Black&White Dance - a hip hop and jazz studio in Ōtepoti, said the videos were not always passed on by busy parents, so she used social media for a small group of students over 13. Cockerill said she personally does not believe a ban will work, but if it came in, she hoped it would still be possible to contact students on a group chat medium such as WhatsApp. "Instagram is a fantastic platform to share some videos for educational purposes or sharing ideas. I also use [Facebook] Messenger as a communication tool." Angelina Cockerill Photo: Supplied / Black&White Dance Studio Cockerill agreed it was good for teenagers to be responsible for their own schedules. "And in dance, it can help them remember we exactly they need to practise or be inspired by." Sometimes communicating through parents was actually "a bit of an obstacle", she said. "I want to share inspirations and tutorials but if I have to go through parents ... I'm sure that many times, it probably doesn't reach the students. "Being able to communicate with the teenagers directly is a fabulous thing as they can access this information straight away." Dancers at Black&White Dance Studio. Photo: Supplied / Black&White Dance Studio Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-05-2025
- RNZ News
Second trial underway over death of Karori man Rau Tongia
The High Court in Wellington where the trial is taking place. Photo: RNZ / Aaron Smale A second trial has started today in the High Court in Wellington in relation to the death of Karori man Rau Tongia. Tongia died in his Karori home in December 2020. During a murder trial last year in which four women stood trial on murder charges, the Crown alleged that Tongia was shot in the back while he slept. Shayde Weston who was accused of shooting Tongia, and Pania Waaka who was accused of driving Weston to Tongia's address, were both convicted of his murder. Weston's half sister Breeze Hunt-Weston was convicted of accessory after the fact to murder for helping move the gun following Tongia's death. A fourth woman, Louise Kelly Hume, was acquitted. The woman currently standing trial, who has name suppression, is accused of being a party to murder. She has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The woman was originally expected to be part of last year's trial but was excused due to health reasons. This trial, which was expected to start on Monday, has already faced delays with pre-trial matters taking up the intervening days. Jury selection then started with a kerfuffle, when the first potential juror was called only for counsel to be unable to match the name against their provided list of jurors. Justice Paul Radich explained to the jury pool after a short adjournment to sort out the matter that it had been a printing issue. Twelve jurors were then quickly selected thereafter. The trial is set down for three weeks. During the 2024 trial the Crown said in the hours before Tongia's death, Weston was with the fifth woman. Witnesses reported seeing the two women and Tongia at a party, where Weston and the fifth woman were seen kissing. Witnesses said she appeared to be trying to get a rise out of Tongia. Tongia is then alleged to have assaulted Weston while she was sleeping alone in the woman's bed. Witnesses testified to seeing Weston with black eyes after the attack and reported a second confrontation then happening in the driveway of Tongia's Percy Dyett Drive address. The Crown alleged Tongia was then shot in the back while he slept just hours later. It alleged Weston either pulled the trigger or assisted in the shooting and Waaka drove her there. In regard to the woman standing trial, the Crown believed she was also in the bedroom the night Tongia was shot.
