New Zealand Herald

Waitara Firearms Training - Watson Appeal - Herald Online - Tv3 Donations - Man Shot - Sex & Sport - Acc Compensation - Tvnz Commercialism - Bill Gates & Team Nz - Love Bug - Name Suppression - Illegal Search - Peanut Murder - Edwards Advice - Editorial- Waitara Shooting

WAITARA FIREARMS TRAINING: The policeman who shot dead Steve Wallace in Waitara is a part-Maori constable in his 40s who went through an intensive firearms training course two days before he fired the four fatal shots. The constable says he backed up against a shop window, warning Mr Wallace, who kept coming at him with a softball bat. He believed he had no choice but to fire.

WATSON APPEAL: Scott Watson's family felt no surprise at yesterday's Court of Appeal decision confirming his conviction for the murders of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart. "We can see what the system is up to ... We have seen the system protecting itself," said the 28-year-old's father, Chris Watson.

HERALD ONLINE: The Herald Online has launched a property web site that is the most comprehensive real estate resource available in this country, according to its creators. It is the first in New Zealand to provide not only a huge database of property listings but a wealth of advice and information as well. The web site is designed as a tool to help people navigate their way through the process of buying and selling property.

TV3 DONATIONS: TV3 staff, stunned to learn that their employer gave the two main political parties $50,000, are putting pressure on their foreign owner to end the practice in New Zealand. The Canadian-owned network put $25,000 into each of the campaign coffers of Labour and National before last year's election.

MAN SHOT: An Auckland man brandishing a fake pistol adopted a two-hand grip, crouched and pointed it at a policeman before being shot dead. More details of the police killing of Edwin "Eddie" Leo, near Helensville last July 1, were revealed after the Police Complaints Authority yesterday cleared the shooter.

SEX & SPORT: Much-derided Auckland sports fans can claim one win in the passion stakes - a national survey shows they are keener than anyone else to celebrate a big sports victory with sex. The survey, commissioned by Coca-Cola, revealed that 17 per cent of Aucklanders admitted they would put some extra fizz into their team's win with an after-match romp.

ACC COMPENSATION: Staff at some emergency call centres are endangering sick and injured people by not sending rescue helicopters as quickly as they should, says the Accident Compensation Corporation. It has written to 14 communications centres saying some staff are breaking rules by sending ambulances to emergencies when they should be sending helicopters.

TVNZ COMMERCIALISM: One of the most trenchant critics of TVNZ's recent moves to commercialism has been appointed to its board of directors. Media commentator Paul Smith, who writes columns for the weekly National Business Review, has been a leading critic of the leadership and direction of TVNZ in recent years.

BILL GATES & TEAM NZ: Team New Zealand members could soon face a tough decision - multimillion-dollar offers from Microsoft boss Bill Gates versus lifetime gym memberships at Les Mills World of Fitness. Auckland businessman and Les Mills manager Phillip Mills made the offer yesterday as he called on New Zealand businesses to band together to stop Team NZ members being lured by overseas syndicates.

LOVE BUG: As the Love Bug computer virus mutates and spreads around the world, computer security experts have pointed the finger at slack technicians they say have not learned from past attacks. The Love Bug virus, or variations of it, has now caused damage worth billions of dollars worldwide, all stemming from e-mail attachments being opened by computer users.

NAME SUPPRESSION: This is the written decision of Justices Doogue and Robertson against the application of the policeman involved in the Waitara shooting for an order suppressing publication of his identity. For ease of reading, references to "respondent" have been changed to Herald.The application for an injunction is based upon three causes of action. The first is defamation. It is submitted that the publication of the applicant's name or features leading to his identification will link him to previous publications by the Herald which the applicant says are defamatory of him.

ILLEGAL SEARCH: CHRISTCHURCH - A lecturer has been awarded $20,000 in compensation for an illegal police search of his property following a bomb hoax nearly four years ago. David Small, a University of Canterbury education lecturer, had claimed $300,000 from the Crown in an action in the High Court at Christchurch last month.

PEANUT MURDER: ROTORUA - A man accused of murdering his partner in a peanut business for a $350,000 insurance payout was yesterday described as a miserly millionaire whose sole motive was money. At the opening of a trial in the High Court at Rotorua, crown prosecutor John McDonald said Christopher Stephen Schuler, aged 47, a labourer of Tokoroa, kept $204,000 in a corn-chip box in his basement but "wouldn't spend a cent" if he could avoid it.

EDWARDS ADVICE: Broadcasting Minister Marian Hobbs, is among a number of ministers to receive media advice from the former host of National Radio's Top O' the Morning programme, Brian Edwards, and his wife Judy Callingham. A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was "routine" to have such training.

EDITORIAL- WAITARA SHOOTING: Last Tuesday, in the interests of presenting a more complete picture of the Waitara shooting, the New Zealand Herald gathered some information about the policeman who fired the fatal shots. It was important to do so. By then, two days after the shooting, people were jumping to conclusions about the character and motives of the police involved. The police, as is their practice when one of their own faces an inquiry, were saying very little. On the night the police realised the Herald was preparing to publish something about the officer, they sought and obtained an injunction from the New Plymouth District Court barring his identification. On Friday the Herald successfully applied to the High Court at Auckland to overturn that injunction and can, today, publish some facts we believe are important to public knowledge about a matter of serious concern.

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