Stories by Sam Olley

Crime Scene Cleaners broke the law when it posted graphic scenes of sudden deaths and suspected suicides to its social media accounts. But it will not be charged.

A group of nearly 20 people have ventured onto the Whakaari/White Island crater to lay a plaque remembering the 22 dead in the 2019 eruption. Audio

The emergency housing system is seriously flawed by three constant human rights breaches, an inquiry has found. Audio

Nowhere are gangs more visible and harder to contain than in our prisons. A surprising partnership between a private prison and an ex-drug lord seems to have a formula for cracking their hold over…

A temporary measure that has left Rāwene Hospital with no overnight doctors on-site, remains unsolved, despite initial expectations roster gaps would be filled last month.

Ukrainan refugees who could barely say the English alphabet upon arrival in Aotearoa have since learned enough to get jobs.

The nearly $1 billion price tag and detailed plans for a Whangārei hospital redevelopment announced today brought relief to Northland health leadership.

The sister of a Whangārei murder victim has paid tribute to her "amazing" sibling this afternoon and acknowledged the pain his killer's family are also enduring.

A 21-year-old Whangārei man has been found guilty of murder after a street brawl in the centre of the city in June 2021.

The defence counsel for the older of two Whangārei brothers accused of murder says his client accepts committing manslaughter, but not murder.

The Crown has finished calling witnesses at a tense murder trial in Whangārei this afternoon.

Gruesome witness accounts of a street fight, the aftermath of a fatal stabbing and attempts by medical staff to revive the victim have been read to a jury in Whangārei.

Shouting, wailing, and threats forced security to break up aggression at a murder trial this afternoon, with the judge, defendants, jury, and members of the public hurried out of the court.

A Ukrainian support group says humanitarian aid in Aotearoa is lacking - so much so that some refugees have returned to their wartorn homeland.

Some Whangārei businesses are the busiest they've been since pre-Covid times - thanks to the Rugby World Cup.

Sonny Tau's trial has been aborted due to "legal reasons", lawyers say.

Te Rūnanga ā iwi o Ngāpuhi's former chairperson Raniera Tau is on trial for sex charges.

The $3 billion fund spearheaded by New Zealand First was established in 2018.

Neighbours of Alexander Abramov's luxury lodge are concerned sanctions imposed on the Russian oligarch will be the demise of his business.

Documents released to RNZ have shown the government was warned emergency housing law changes put human rights in jeopardy - even by the Ministry of Health.

The Human Rights Commission says the government-funded emergency and transitional housing system has potentially breached human rights.

A family friend said Declan was "an incredibly happy, outdoorsy, bubbly kind of kid - you'd always hear him laughing".

A group of Ukrainians in Aotearoa have written to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern imploring her to visit the war-torn country.

New Zealand-based Russians opposed to the war in Ukraine have described Vladimir Putin's latest televised address as "completely horrendous" and "crushing".

A former Whangārei mayor and deputy chairman of the Northland Regional Council has been convicted and fined for two air pollution breaches.