111Diary

A man's body has been found on Lake Benmore in the Mackenzie district of the South Island. Constable Les Andrews of Twizel police said the body was recovered from the lake at 9.15am on Wednesday. Volunteers and police have been searching for Methven man George Agnew since Saturday after he was last seen on the lake a week (more)

A high profile young offender was apprehended by a member of the public after being caught in the act of a burglary this week. It was one of two burglaries the young person – one of a small number of youths thought to have been responsible for a spike in dishonesty crimes in Ashburton recently – has allegedly committed in the past (more)

Landlords are risking a huge clean-up bill if they don’t use police authorised vetting agencies to check tenants before handing over their house keys, says Ashburton police senior sergeant Scott Banfield. There were a number of official agencies able to run background checks on tenants and taking that simple step could save headaches – and (more)

A teenager who crashed a stolen car into a fast food restaurant is in custody and police are seeking two others involved. The offending appears to have begun at Redmonds Furniture and Flooring at about 11.30pm on Sunday night. A spokesman at the store said the back door had been forced setting the alarms off but those responsible appeared to (more)

Ashburton Police were yesterday called to a gang-related stoush that erupted outside the Ashburton District Court. The scuffle broke out after Chase Carlio Burton, 23, pleaded guilty in court to a rioting charge after an incident in Davis Crescent in August, that involved Black Power and Mongrel Mob members. Ashburton police sergeant (more)

A 24-year-old Ashburton man was remanded to reappear in the Ashburton District Court on November 2 following a domestic incident in Tinwald on Sunday. Joeylee Kevin Tait appeared before Judge Brian Callaghan at the Ashburton District Court yesterday on charges of wilful damage of a car tyre, contravening a protection order, threatening to kill, (more)

A weekend of vandalism in Ashburton that saw several shops and buildings targeted has frustrated local business owners. In the space of two days, two businesses were broken into and another building was vandalised in Allenton. Up to $1000 worth of food was stolen from a freezer behind Hec’s Four Square on Sunday night, owner Brent (more)

A Mayfield farmer is urging people to be on high alert, after one of his tractors was brazenly stolen. Kevin McKeown’s John Deere 6320 tractor, equipped with a 651 front-end loader, was taken from a roadside paddock last week. The tractor was being used as an anchor for irrigation on his farm, and Mr McKeown believes the thieves had (more)

  Drink driving A 29-year-old man was found to be nearly twice the legal limit when stopped by Ashburton police at 4.30am on Saturday. He had an excess breath alcohol level of 757 micrograms per litre of breath. A second man, was also found to be nearly twice the legal limit when he was arrested for drinking driving over the (more)

The manager of an Ashburton dairy is “angry and frustrated” after being targeted by burglars for the second time in one month. Ashburton police are investigating after two businesses were broken into in the early hours of yesterday morning, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. Both Sunny’s Discount Dairy and Hotel (more)