"You did a monstrous thing, but I do not think you are a monster," a High Court Judge told the killer of a two-year-old boy today as he sentenced him to a life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years today.

A Whanganui man was today jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for kicking to death his partner's two-year-old son.

The High Court has ruled Whanganui District Council's gang patch ban is unlawful.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is investigating the cause of a helicopter crash which left a pilot with head injuries after it came down north of Levin this morning.

Three senior members of the Rebel Motorcycle Club have been banned from visiting a Northland prison after attempting to recruit members there.

Two people are dead and five others have been taken to hospital after a vehicle carrying seven people rolled this morning near Foxton.

A jury in the Palmerston North High Court has today found a man not guilty of murdering a three-year-old girl but guilty of her manslaughter. Kash McKinnon died of head injuries in Palmerston North Hospital in August 2009.

One of two teenagers charged with attempted murder after a policeman was attacked with a machete at Taihape on December 11 last year has pleaded guilty.

A spiralling shortage of doctors has sparked a warning of future "severe safety issues" in New Zealand hospitals, with predictions that patients could suffer from increasing medical mistakes and treatment delays without urgent action.

A major police operation resulting in at least 30 arrests is likely to stymie Australian gang the Rebels' growing presence in NZ, police say.

Luxury cars and motorbikes, drugs and thousands of dollars have been seized in a major police crackdown on organised crime.

A major police operation today has highlighted the fact that rival gangs are working together in the highly lucrative drugs trade, Police Minister Judith Collins says.

Anonymous tipsters responding to an appeal for information on a vandalism attack have given police new leads on the murder of Feilding farmer Scott Guy and police have reiterated that information will be treated in confidence.

Going public today with images of graffiti found on murdered Manawatu farmer Scott Guy's house has led to a number of calls to police.

Police investigating the murder of farmer Scott Guy are pursuing a new lead linked to a vandalism attack on his Feilding property.

Members of the public wept in court today upon hearing a 3-year-old had over 80 marks or wounds when she died.