Items used to manufacture methamphetamine were found inside a rubbish bin kept in a wardrobe in a home where two children were living, a court has been told.

New Zealand Navy Band members' personal possessions were stolen during a weekend break-in while the band was taking part in a military parade through Whangarei.

Firefighters working to rescue a teen who had a motorcycle gear lever embedded in his leg had to erect a wall of sand as they tried to cut him free.

A transgender woman who struck a man over the head with a bottle of sparkling wine has pleaded with a judge not to send her to a men's prison.

A coroner has ruled on the true identity of the cat handler mauled to death by a tiger at a Whangarei wildlife park in 2009.

It took up to 10 shots from a shotgun and rifle to kill a tiger that fatally attacked a handler at Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Park, a coroner's hearing has heard.

An undercover police officer bought marijuana seedlings from a Switched on Gardner employee inside the company's Tauranga shop, a court has been told.

A big-cat handler fatally mauled to death by a tiger did not see a need to lock the animal away while cleaning its enclosure, a coronial inquest has heard.

A tiger that killed a big cat handler at the Zion Wildlife Park had attacked another man a month or so before it fatally mauled Dalu MnCube, an inquest has heard.

Switched On Gardener was described as a 'one stop shop' for cannabis growing equipment today, as the trial of five people associated with the gardening chain begins.

Wayne Bracken was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Jack Davis in 2011. But co-accused Neville Dangen, 24 was found not guilty of the same charges.

Whangarei's newest residents - two baby tuatara - will be among the most watched, and talked about, additions to the district ever when they go on public display today.

A young man is lucky to be alive after a vicious knife attack in central Whangarei left him with his throat slashed from one side to the other.

Current and former students have thrown their support in behind a Northland Catholic school teacher who was fired after he supported a gay rights protest.

A Northland teacher who was suspended last month after he supported a pro-gay protest at the Catholic College he taught at has lost his job.