Latest news with #Wellington
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Police still looking for offender of daylight sexual assault near Porirua
The popular Colonial Knob walkway runs through bush and along farmland, and from the top walkers can see sweeping views of Porirua, Tawa, and up to Kāpiti Island. Photo: Supplied/ Dan Bailey Police are still looking for the offender after a daylight assault on a popular Wellington walkway earlier this month. A woman was sexually assaulted about halfway up the stairs of the Rangituhi Colonial Knob walking track in the afternoon of Wednesday 18 June. Detective Senior Sergeant Pete Middlemiss said police had received a great amount of information from the public, and they're calling for anyone else who was in the area to come forward and speak to them. They were "especially interested" in speaking to anybody who entered or exited the walkway from the Raiah Street carpark entrance between 3pm and 4.30pm that day, he added. "From the information we have already received, we have some lines of enquiry which the investigation team is continuing to follow." Police were also still appealing for any information about a man who was wearing a dark-coloured long sleeve top, dark-coloured track pants and a cap, Patterson said. "If you have any information, please contact Police via 105, either over the phone or online. Please reference file number 250618/1395." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Jersey pick Greenwood despite drink-driving admissions
Jersey have selected Wellington's Nick Greenwood for their T20 World Cup qualifiers despite the all-rounder admitting drink-related driving 25-year-old pleaded guilty at Jersey's Magistrate's Court on Tuesday to failing to provide a specimen, driving without insurance and failing to comply with traffic directions. The incident happened in the early hours of 8 July after Jersey had beaten Guernsey in their inter-island T20 series at Grainville. The court has adjourned sentencing on Greenwood, who was born in Jersey but grew up and lives in New Zealand, until 29 July but imposed an interim driving Cricket say they are not funding any of Greenwood's legal costs associated with the incident."We acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and are disappointed that it has arisen," Jersey Cricket Board chief executive Sarah Gomersall said in a statement. "In determining squad selection, Jersey Cricket has considered precedent set by other international cricketing bodies, including New Zealand Cricket and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who have in past instances permitted players facing non-cricket-related legal proceedings to continue to represent their teams."Consistent with this approach, we have selected players based solely on cricketing merit."Greenwood is one of two full-time professional cricketers in the Jersey squad - he has scored 900 runs in 18 first-class games for has made 34 T20 appearances for Jersey since his debut in 2019, scoring 936 runs, and played in all three games against Guernsey earlier this month - his score of 45 in the second game was the highest by any Jersey batter across the series. Tribe picked after excellent Glamorgan form The squad also includes Glamorgan youngster Asa Tribe, who has hit fine form in recent weeks for the scored his maiden first-class century against Leicestershire last week, while his 63 not out ensured Glamorgan beat Gloucestershire in the T20 is part of an experienced Jersey squad - 12 of the 15-man party competed at the same stage two years ago - who will take on the hosts Netherlands, Scotland, Italy and Guernsey for a place in the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri top two sides in the round-robin format competition will progress.""This is an excellent opportunity for us to test ourselves against some of the best teams in Europe," Jersey director of cricket Paul Hutchison said."The squad has been preparing with real focus and intensity, and every match gives us the chance to show what Jersey cricket stands for — skill, spirit, and ambition. "A place at the World Cup would be a milestone moment for Jersey Cricket. We know it won't come easy, but we're ready for the challenge."Jersey squad:Charles Perchard (capt), Jake Dunford (wkt), Dominic Blampied, Charlie Brennan, Harrison Carlyon, Patrick Gouge, Nick Greenwood, Jonty Jenner, Will Perchard, Theo Pullman, George Richardson, Julius Sumerauer, Asa Tribe, Zak Tribe, Ben Ward.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Propelling the past: How one Kiwi keeps early aviation spinning
Jeff Fox's Horowhenua workshop is full of propellers and machinery. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham The next time you spot a vintage aircraft overhead, there's a good chance it's airborne thanks to the handiwork of a man from Manakau, an hour's drive from Wellington. For more than 25 years, Jeff Fox has crafted wooden propellers for classic aircraft such as Tiger Moths and Sopwith Camels. He puts up to 300 hours into each piece, with clients that include World War I aviation buff, Sir Peter Jackson. When RNZ visited his Fox Props business in Horowhenua, Fox was shaping a Tiger Moth propeller, all part of his work keeping remnants of early aviation alive. "One of the first props I did was for the Will Scotland aircraft, the Caudron. That was flown in early 1914 down in Te Horo. That aircraft went on to the first cross-country flights in Australasia, Invercargill to Gore." Scotland was a New Zealand aviation pioneer. One of only a few in the world to hand-make wooden propellers, while not a pilot himself, Fox delves into the stories of the planes he keeps in the air and those early aviators. "That aircraft eventually got pranged doing a demonstration flight out of Athletic Park [in Wellington], and he couldn't get back in because of wind. He got blown into the hills above the Basin Reserve - actually into the trees. He was the first guy to climb out of a tree that hadn't climbed up it." Dry-humoured, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, Fox is at home in his workshop, which stands only metres from his house. Its walls are lined with propellers and pictures of planes, including some that look odd to the modern eye, like the German tri-winged aircraft from the early 20th century. In more than 25 years, Jeff Fox has crafted about 260 propellers. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham A builder and joiner by trade, Fox started restoring classic cars, and that led to requests for work on classic planes. "It's not just the propeller. It's also a history lesson in what the early pilots had to put up with, the conditions they lived in and their life expectancies. "As one of my mates said: This was in the days when the planes were built of wood and the men were built of steel. Today it's the other way around. You better believe it." Half of Fox's workshop is devoted to his hobby of doing up old motorbikes, and the other half to the propeller business - he said that's the half that made the money, the other side lost it. He does work for aviation enthusiasts in New Zealand and abroad. Propellers destined for a vintage Tiger Moth aircraft. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham "I was very fortunate to be involved early on with a lot of Peter Jackson's aircraft projects through a mate of mine, Stuart Tantrum, in Levin. He restored the camel for Peter, and that needed a propeller." The amount of work varies. Sometimes he might do a couple of propellers a year, sometimes a lot more. Some propellers, such as ones with four blades, take up to 300 hours, some much less, and they cost anything from just over $8000 to more than $20,000. Fox uses quality imported wood, something he's particular about. "Those Tiger Moth ones [in the workshop] are seven layers of sapele mahogany. A lot of the originals were Honduras mahogany, which we can't get here. I think the last Honduras we had into this country was in the 1920s, but sapele's a very close second." The 66-year-old reckons he's made about 260 propellers and has no plans to retire. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- General
- RNZ News
The Manukau man crafting vintage propellers
life and society transport 29 minutes ago Next time a vintage aircraft flies overhead there's a good chance it's being propelled by the handiwork of a man from Manakau, an hour north of Wellington. For over 25 years Jeff Fox has created wooden propellers for classic aircraft like tiger moths and sopwith camels. He can put up to 300 hours of work into each handcrafted propeller for clients including First World War aviation buff Sir Peter Jackson. Jimmy Ellingham reports.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Jury told to be careful assessing mushroom cook's lies
Jurors cannot find mushroom cook Erin Patterson guilty of murdering her lunch guests simply because she admitted telling lies, a judge has warned. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale provided the caution during the fourth day of his directions to the jury in Patterson's triple-murder trial. He noted the lies the 50-year-old has admitted, which include claims she never foraged for wild mushrooms and that she never had a dehydrator. Jurors could use those lies to assess Patterson's credibility on other statements she made to witnesses or during her evidence, Justice Beale said. But just because Patterson lied about one thing does not mean she lied about everything, and jurors would need to consider all of the prosecution's evidence, the judge warned. "Do not reason that just because she has told a lie about something then she is guilty," Justice Beale said. The warning came after he outlined the evidence around Patterson's alleged fake illness after the death cap mushroom-laced lunch. Patterson's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died in hospital days after eating the beef Wellingtons prepared by Patterson on July 29, 2023. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson became unwell but was the only lunch guest to survive. Patterson, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one charge of attempted murder, claims she was also unwell after the meal. Justice Beale outlined the evidence from Patterson herself, where she reported having nausea and explosive diarrhoea for more than a day after the lunch. The judge also reflected on the evidence from Patterson's children, ex-husband Simon, doctors and nurses, who at times stated how well she appeared. Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC claimed Patterson was pretending to be sick because she knew she had not eaten the deadly death cap mushrooms. Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy SC argued she was unwell but not as sick as her lunch guests due to the amount of beef Wellington she ate, her age, size and general physical health. Justice Beale said the evidence around Patterson's condition after the lunch should be considered in the context of alleged incriminating conduct. Patterson has admitted some of the conduct, including disposing of the dehydrator at a tip and lying about foraging for wild mushrooms. Justice Beale said jurors have to consider whether Patterson told the lies because she panicked in fear of being wrongly accused and losing custody of her children. Patterson has denied lying about feeling unwell and feeding her children leftovers from the beef Wellington lunch. If the jury found she did engage in the alleged conduct, they must consider whether she did so because she feared being wrongly blamed, the judge said. "Even if you think that conduct makes her look guilty, that doesn't mean she is guilty," Justice Beale said. He sent the jurors home for the week shortly before 1pm on Friday, advising them his directions should finish before lunch on Monday. The jury of 14 will then be balloted down to 12, who will be tasked with deciding whether Patterson is guilty or not guilty of each of the charges.
