Police were called to a property on Mangakahia Rd, about 5km south of Kaikohe, just after 9am on Saturday, where they found a man with stab wounds. He died despite the efforts of emergency services.
Police said they took a man at the scene into custody, and spoke to a number of people gathered at the property. The 44-year-old man appeared in Kaikohe District Court on Monday, charged with murder. He was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody to appear in the High Court at Whangārei on April 4.
Plane concern
A small plane seen flying back and forth over the coast of Northland last week attracted speculation from people who saw it - some wondering if it was a police cannabis spotting operation.
However, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand confirmed the plane was on a mapping mission.
“We’ve been mapping parts of the coast to provide valuable data to decision-makers, researchers and planners that could mitigate the potential future impacts of climate change,” a spokesperson said.
“The plane uses pulsed light LiDAR [light detection and ranging technology] to build up a 3D picture of the land and seafloor below.
“Populated parts of the coast, and those vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise are being mapped, and the data could be used to make decisions about where to build infrastructure and inform hazard mapping like tsunami zones.
“The data is also going to feed into the nautical charts we produce, for safety of navigation on the water; and could be used by locals to support their businesses.
“All data captured will be made publicly available on our LINZ Data Service website once it is processed.”
Correction
In a story this week ‘Northland share farmers of the year are Kaitāia couple’ it was stated that Saffrin Sutcliffe - the region’s Dairy Trainee of the Year- completed a Primary ITO course. Saffrin actually completed a Whangārei A&P Society’s Farm Intern Programme, in conjunction with Land Based Training courses. The incorrect information was provided by the award organisers.
