Boy held up with pistol
A 14-year-old was threatened with a pistol in a Whangarei carpark and robbed. Police say the boy was in Vine St carpark about 2pm on Friday when a male Maori in his late teens or early 20s demanded money from the boy and threatened him while armed with a pistol. The boy handed over some coins and the man ran towards the Rose St bus stop. He was wearing an LA Lakers hat with a black hoody and had a scab or cut on his right temple.
Woman bashed in street
A Moerewa woman required hospital treatment after she was bashed by two other women on Saturday night. Kerikeri police Senior Sergeant Peter Robinson said the woman, aged about 19, was walking on Moerewa's main street at 9.45pm when she became involved in an argument with three other women. Two of those women attacked her, punching and kneeing her to the face. The victim suffered facial injuries and chipped teeth requiring hospital treatment. Two women had been arrested and would appear in the Kaikohe District Court on serious assault charges.
Yacht adrift off coast
An abandoned yacht is still adrift off the Northland coast after a long-distance rescue late on Friday night. Senior Sergeant Peter Robinson said police and Coastguard were alerted about 6.25pm on Friday to a yacht with a broken rudder about 35 nautical miles (65km) off Nine Pin Rock, at the entrance to the Bay of Islands. The sailor was rescued by Bay of Islands Coastguard rescue. His 7-metre trailer sailer was left at sea because of the large swell. Under maritime law it is the owner's responsibility to salvage the yacht.
Lunchtime concert
This Friday's lunchtime concert at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri will be a tribute to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, known as the father of bossa nova and who first achieved international recognition with The Girl from Ipanema. The concert will be hosted by Mike Nettmann with diva Makareta Umbers and members of jazz band Thelonious Punk performing. The concert starts at 12.15pm in the Theatre Bar with entry by gold coin donation.
