The New Zealand Herald

Lawyer Beaten- Health Ge Food- Murderer Locked Up- Lawyers Fees- Cervical Treatments- Mt Eden Prison Suicide- Nazi Inquiry- Business Hostility- Mother Sentenced- New Mortuary- Brain Drain Feature- Cullen And Super

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LAWYER BEATEN: A leading Auckland barrister is in hospital with amnesia as police investigate the mysterious circumstances behind his being beaten and left for dead in an Onehunga industrial estate. John Timmins, aged 49, an employment law specialist whose corporate clients include Air New Zealand, was found semi-conscious in a pool of blood in the courtyard of Shieling Laboratories in Hill St last Thursday morning.

- HEALTH GE FOOD: An American health food manufacturer says it will continue to use genetically engineered (GE) ingredients after breaking ranks with environmental groups. Greg Caton, president of Lumen Foods, which manufactures soy-based meat replacements, told the Designing Foods that Consumers Will Choose conference in Auckland yesterday there was no evidence that GE food was any less healthful than products made from traditional hybrid seed. Lumen Foods used genetically engineered ingredients

- MURDERER LOCKED UP: The man who raped and murdered Kylie Jones will serve 18 years in jail before he can apply for parole but will probably stay locked up forever. In the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Justice Barry Paterson handed down one of the country's toughest jail penalties, saying he doubted that Taffy Herbert Hotene, aged 30, would ever be released.

- LAWYERS FEES: Lawyers and consultants are set to pocket $4.2 million in fees whether or not Auckland gets a dream public transport system. The budget for legal fees and technical advice on the deal to pay Tranz Rail $65 million for access to train corridors has rocketed from $1.4 million last month to a projected $4.2 million by December.

- CERVICAL TREATMENTS: Cervical cancer treatment opportunities for Paihia woman Colleen Poutsma were restricted because of an "incomprehensible" failing by her gynaecologist, Dr Graham Parry, says an expert witness. Mrs Poutsma, who is dying of the disease, yesterday sat in a wheelchair through most of the first day of the hearing in Paihia into the charge of disgraceful conduct against Dr Parry.

- MT EDEN PRISON SUICIDE: A witness told a jury in the High Court at Auckland yesterday that he was haunted by his part in the death of a young man who committed suicide in Mt Eden Prison. Eighteen-year-old Eruera Maaka was found hanged in his cell at the jail on February 1, 1998.

- NAZI INQUIRY: An independent inquiry into the enrolment of an alleged neo-Nazi at Waikato University may not proceed. The possibility has angered the Jewish community, which says there is a moral question of the enrolment of Hans-Joachim Kupka, at present under investigation in Germany.

- BUSINESS HOSTILITY: Prime Minister Helen Clark believes that hostility in the business sector is coming from people refusing to accept the election result last November. Her comments were made yesterday during questioning about why Business Roundtable leaders are not on the confidential guest-list of the Government's select business forum in Auckland, to be hosted by law firm Buddle Findlay in a fortnight.

- MOTHER SENTENCED: A mother who admitted nearly drowning her four-year-old daughter in the bath was sentenced yesterday to an 18-month prison term, suspended for 18 months of supervision. Judge Peter Rollo, in the Tauranga District Court, told the 24-year-old solo mother that assaults on children could never be tolerated under any circumstances.

- NEW MORTUARY: Kevin Lovell's hand is wiggling in the direction of the viewing window. "You see? You see?" he says, eager to point out the best features of the new Auckland mortuary.

- BRAIN DRAIN FEATURE: Leave New Zealand to see the world? Stay overseas because you have a better job? KATHERINE HOBY examines the trends. Megan Pacey was desperate to see the sea after just a few weeks in land-locked London. She and a friend - also a Kiwi - jumped in a car and headed for the coast on their first free day.

- CULLEN AND SUPER: Finance Minister Michael Cullen will this afternoon unveil the Coalition's giant state-funded superannuation scheme, aimed at smoothing the rising cost of pensions over the next 50 to 60 years. He will outline the plan, agreed between Labour and the Alliance, in simultaneous briefings for the media, the Opposition and representatives of business, sector groups, the superannuation industry and the elderly.

All excerpts (c) copyright 2000, The New Zealand Herald

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