Burglaries Drop – Middleton trial – Brawling Cop – Indian Earthquake
- BURGLARIES DROP: New figures show burglaries are down, but insurance costs are set to rise. Burglaries are the lowest
for 18 years, and car thefts are down too. The number of burglaries being solved is at a 12 year high. Smarter police
work is being credited with the drop. Police Minister George Hawkins says burglaries are often the first step on a
criminal career, and anticipates reductions in other crimes to appear in three or four years. But insurance premiums are
set to rise by 10 per cent. Disasters around the world are costing insurance companies, meaning New Zealand insurers,
most multinational companies, will be affected by those costs.
- MIDDLETON TRIAL: An Auckland jury has been shown video footage of alleged death threats made by Mark Middleton to Paul
Dally, the man who killed Mr Middleton’s stepdaughter, Karla Cardnow.
- BRAWLING COP: A Hawke’s Bay policeman will appear in court next month charged with disorderly behaviour relating to a
barroom brawl.
- INDIAN EARTHQUAKE: Six days after the Indian earthquake a handful of survivors are still emerging from the rubble.
Officials estimate 20,000 are dead, but that toll could be as high as 100,000. Half of the survivors in the earthquake
region are now homeless. Thousands are on the move, fleeing from the earthquake zone, fearing they could yet be killed
by aftershocks, and seeing no future in the region. So many corpses are being burned, there is a firewood shortage. Red
Cross has made another appeal for aid.