Fresh funding welcome but barely enough

The Marlborough Community Law Centre has received funding for the new financial year, but will probably have to dig into its cash reserves to cover all its operating costs.

Centre manager Gordon Strang said he had been worried the centre would not receive as much money for the financial year beginning July as it had in the past.

However, the Legal Services Agency had confirmed the Blenheim centre would receive about $300,000, the same amount it received last year.

While this was good news, it did not take into account increased operating costs and the centre might have to use cash reserves to cover all its costs, Mr Strang said.

The centre had just hired two qualified lawyers to oversee case work for the 2500 people it served annually and there was a continual need to keep up to date with technology and the law, he said.

Mr Strang said the centre needed to spend money on training staff and buying more resources.

"What we don't want is stagnation. We can't afford that because the law is changing all the time," he said.

He expected requests for advice about the new police safety orders, which allow police to remove the abusive party in a domestic relationship from a house for up to five days.

People served with a notice by police might not know what they could do about it, he said.

"There's always a need to change. As society changes, the law changes and we have to as well."

The Legal Services Agency funds community law centres from interest earned from the money put in lawyers' trust accounts after sales of assets such as houses.

A fall in the number of houses sold last year reduced the amount of money it had to distribute.

Mr Strang said about $11 million was needed to run community law centres around the country, but last year the interest from housing sales provided only 30 per cent of that, and the government paid the rest.

The Legal Services Agency provides legal aid and assistance to people who cannot afford lawyers.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 06/08/2010

Jazz ace gives pupils a masterclass

Jazz music students from Marlborough Boys' and Girls' Colleges and the rest of South Island got the chance to work with one of the country's best-known big band leaders yesterday as part of an annual jazz festival.

Big band leader Rodger Fox is one of the judges at this year's Southern Jam Youth Jazz festival being held in Marlborough and also ran a master class to teach students from 15 secondary schools.

Being involved in the four-day festival gave him a chance to give back to the youth, he said.

"If our music is to survive, it has to be at the school level," he said.

The classes were run like any practice session with his band, which gave the students a taste of the commitment and focus needed to become a professional musician, he said.

It was also an opportunity for teachers to pick up new techniques to use during band practices, he said.

Fox is leader of the Rodger Fox Big Band, which has performed at jazz festivals in the United States and Europe and is a three-time winner of the Tui music award for New Zealand Jazz Recording of the Year.

Marlborough Boys' College performance music director Ray Russell said it was a good change for the students to listen to Fox instead of their teachers. "His sort of experience isn't available locally or even in some schools in the main centres," he said.

Fox said the level of talent at the festival and in the schools was high; some would even be good enough to play in his award-winning big band.

"To see this many bands from the South Island shows that jazz is alive and well in the school system," he said.

Popular New Zealand bands such as Fat Freddy's Drop and the Black Seeds often used brass instruments, a sign jazz had become more mainstream, he said.

One of the challenges with secondary school jazz bands was the different skill levels, he said.

As students finished school they would have to be replaced by others who might have only started learning an instrument.

"It's a hard road and a lot of people don't understand what teachers need to go through [to have a good band]," he said.

The festival began on Wednesday with free public performances at venues throughout Marlborough and ends with a gala performance at the Marlborough Civic Theatre, in Blenheim, tomorrow night.

Bands will be performing free concerts today at Fairweathers on Scott St from 6pm to 7.30pm and at the Clubs Marlborough on Alfred St from 8pm to 10.30pm.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 06/08/2010

BEN CURRAN/Marlborough Express

LESSONS FROM A LEGEND: Jazz students Sam Jones, Jack Harre and Young Chan Kang, from colleges throughout the South Island, get the chance to work with jazz musician and big band leader Rodger Fox as part of the Southern Jam Youth Jazz festival in Marlborough.

Student party trouble-free

Secrecy, security and a police presence made for a trouble-free combined colleges' after-ball party, according to the organiser and police.

After-ball party organiser Sam Harrington said about 300 students attended the party at the Harlequins Clubrooms on Lansdowne St, Blenheim, after the combined colleges' formal at the Marlborough Convention Centre on Friday night.

The party was problem-free and police issued no warnings about behaviour, he said.

Acting Senior Sergeant Tony Yardley, of Blenheim, said three extra officers were on duty on Friday night to monitor the ball and after-ball party, along with their usual duties.

"Things can go wrong and you have to plan for that, but it didn't happen," Mr Yardley said.

Sam, 17, said there was alcohol at the party, but it was advertised more as a dance party than a reason to get drunk.

He started organising security and the DJ just two weeks before the ball and police were kept in the loop about details. Only students with tickets to the ball could get a ticket to the after-ball party to limit the number of potential party crashers, he said.

The venue was kept secret until the end of the ball and professional security guards were strict in limiting the amount of alcohol taken inside by ticket holders. A small number of parents also helped out, he said.

Sam said organising the party was stressful because rumours circulated that people without tickets would try to get into the venue.

The after-ball party began about 1am and the last people left about 4.30am.

Mr Yardley did not know of any other after-ball parties that night.

Marlborough Girls' College principal Karen Stewart said the after-ball party was not associated with the college, but she was happy with how the ball turned out.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 05/08/2010

NO PROBLEMS: Sam Harrington, 17, right, and Luci Bolton, 17, arrive at the combined colleges formal last Friday night. Sam organised a trouble-free after-ball party.

Tagging aims to help preserve kingfish stock

Fishermen in Marlborough are being asked to play their part in a new tracking programme aimed at preserving kingfish numbers in an area where the fish have been rediscovered.

The Fishing Paper editor Daryl Crimp is calling for anglers who fish kingfish for sport to help tag the fish for research.

Thousands of the fish have been found around d'Urville Island and Stephens Island by Marlborough fishermen using new technology including the internet, GPS and fish finders, which determine what fish are near the boat.

"The fish have been down there forever; it's just now [fishermen] are getting better at targeting them," he said. "Fifty years ago, we didn't need technology like this because fish were so abundant."

Being able to find fish more accurately could create a problem, because over-fishing would have a large impact on fish numbers.

The information from the tags would add to Ministry of Fisheries data and help research into long-term trends, including migration patterns and fish numbers, he said.

If fishermen did not take more responsibility about the number of fish they caught, Marlborough was in danger of history repeating, he said, referring to the four-year ban on recreational fishing of blue cod put in place in 2008.

"What that [blue cod] taught us is that those resources aren't infinite, and we don't want that to happen again."

Marine supplies retailer Hendersons Ltd spokesman John Baker said the company often sold fishing gear to people who actively targeted kingfish. The Blenheim company was keen to be part of the tagging programme and would be shown how the tagging process worked either today or tomorrow, he said.

The company would eventually have the tags and instructions available for people wanting to take part in the research.

Avid Blenheim fisherman Edward Durrheim said he fished for kingfish as often as he could around Stephens Island.

On his last trip, about 14 other boats were around the island and most would have been looking for kingfish, he said.

Mr Durrheim caught the fish more for sport than the dinner table and said it was a resource worth protecting.

"They're one of the strongest fish in the ocean and they put up a hard but short fight," he said.

"It's all about the challenge, really."

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 04/08/2010

CATCH OF THE DAY: Daryl Crimp wants other fishermen to help tag kingfish for research and to keep stock numbers steady.

ERO urges more te reo

Four of the six playcentres in Marlborough need to focus on long-term strategies and evaluation, according to Education Review Office reports.

Two of them have also been told to include more te reo Maori into lessons.

Blenheim, Awatere, Renwick and Picton playcentres, which make up four of the six centres in the Marlborough Playcentre Association, received largely positive reviews from the review office team.

The Linkwater centre is a licensed playgroup and does not require an Education Review Office (ERO) report and the Spring Creek centre has just been licensed so has not yet been reviewed.

Each of the four centres was reviewed individually and all were praised for positive learning environments and respectful and nurturing relationships between adults and children.

But the reports say te reo Maori should be more widely used in the Blenheim and Picton playcentres, while at the Awatere and Renwick centres this was considered to be a strength.

Marlborough Playcentre Association centre support officer Ali Robins said some of the centres had more Maori adults than others.

A visit to Waikawa Marae was planned for later this month for all six playcentres.

The association would also look at more Maori resources, hiring part-time te reo Maori speakers who would visit each centre and had applied for a grant to support more marae visits, Mrs Robins said.

ERO recognised the strong commitment adults had to the playcentres, especially in Renwick.

Children took part in activities, but more work was needed on evaluating the effects of those activities, all the reports said.

The Picton playcentre had to work on developing its long-term planning, ERO found.

Mrs Robins said most evaluation happened on the spot with the children and was not usually well-documented.

Adults would usually see something a child had seen or done and would ask them more questions about it then rather than writing it down later, she said.

The playcentres have had professional development training to find different ways to document what the children were learning, she said. "They [ERO] just want more paperwork, really."

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 04/08/2010

Fraudster escapes jail term

A 26-year-old Blenheim woman who stole almost $45,000 from her employer was "cold, calculating and deliberate", a district court judge said yesterday.

Letisha Jayne Miller was sentenced to the maximum six months' community detention, 200 hours' community work and ordered to pay $57,851.93 reparation when she appeared at the Blenheim District Court on 20 charges of dishonestly using a computer for financial gain.

Evidence presented to the court showed Miller used a computer system at her former employer King Contracting 20 times during eight months last year to create fake invoices.

She began on April 14, creating a false invoice for more than $2000, which was later deposited into her bank account. This happened another 19 times with similar amounts of money.

Judge Geoffrey Ellis said her employer was "absolutely gutted" someone could take money from the company and still return to work each day and even ask the owners for wedding advice.

The owners had thought about selling their business or their house to recoup the money, he said.

No mention was made about the motive behind Miller's theft, but Judge Ellis said she later left work to go on her honeymoon, which he speculated could have been at least partly financed by her offending.

Defence counsel Rob Harrison gave the judge references from friends and family that said Miller was honest and generous and her offending was out of character.

However, Judge Ellis said her actions were not spur-of-the-moment.

"[It] reeks of a cold, calculated, mean-spirited breach of trust."

Judge Tim Broadmore had warned last month that a jail sentence would be an option, with the length of sentence depending on how much Miller would be able to repay.

Mr Harrison said yesterday Miller could pay $40,000 by the end of the week. The remaining $17,851.93 would be paid off over two years.

The final reparation payment ordered yesterday included the amount taken and accountants' fees and costs relating to auditing the company.

Judge Ellis sentenced Miller to community detention "not in a sense of misguided sympathy" for her, but rather for the sake of the victims, he said.

The sentence would allow Miller to continue working to repay the remaining money, he said.

Community detention involves a person living at their home with an electronic bracelet and with a curfew, usually between 7pm and 7am daily.

The person is free during the day to complete community service or any other court sentence such as counselling.

Miller is required to to fully disclose her financial situation to the court every three months
The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 03/08/2010

Police acted unlawfully in Mob house

Assault and resisting charges against a Mongrel Mob member and his associates have been thrown out in the Blenheim District Court after a judge ruled police went into a Mob house in Blenheim unlawfully.

When the police prosecutor finished giving evidence yesterday morning, the defence lawyers told Judge Chris Tuohy police should not have gone into the Brewer St home on October 26.

The defended hearing began on Thursday for Mongrel Mob member Tony Taurima, 45, his partner, Denise Adele August, 34, a mother of six, and Les Te Rawha Wiremu Edmonds, 22. Each faced charges of assaulting police and resisting police. August was also charged with intentional damage and Taurima with threatening to kill.

Judge Tuohy said officers outside the house heard yelling and the sound of a slap or a punch, but there was no evidence of more violence.

When the hearing began police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Frost said the officers went into the house and tried to move the defendants into the living room, but they resisted and kept yelling abuse.

Police dog handler Steven Tribe said he accidently sprayed everyone with pepper spray during a struggle with Taurima and Edmonds in a narrow hallway, including himself.

Taurima later threatened to kill Constable Nathan Potbury by running him over in a car.

"In my view they had good cause to suspect an assault had taken place, but that relies solely on the sound heard through the window," Judge Tuohy said.

The Crimes Act 1961 allowed police to enter a home and arrest a person, but it did not allow them to go into the house to investigate and hopefully identify a person who may have committed an offence, he said. There was nothing to suggest an offence was being committed that would cause immediate and serious injury to any person or property.

"I'm conscious police don't have the luxury of sitting in the court, nine months after it happened discussing it over three days. They have to make the decision in the moment."

However their decision to enter had to be assessed against the Act, he said.

Judge Tuohy found there was no case to answer against Taurima, August and Edmonds on the charges of assaulting police and resisting police.

Defence called no evidence.

Taurima was convicted of threatening to kill and sentenced to 120 hours' community work.

Judge Tuohy said Taurima was angry about what happened in the house and by the time he was in the car he was "clearly out of control".

However the threat was made in a very nasty way.

"These policemen are people with families like you. It is wrong to stereotype them as it is to as it is to stereotype you. You need to respect them."

Taurima apologised for threatening to kill Mr Potbury, which was pleasing, he said.

Judge Tuohy rejected defence lawyer Laurie Murdoch's submission that August would not have damaged a police car with a piece of wood if police had not entered the home.

He found August guilty of intentional damage and sentenced her to 80 hours' community work, which also wiped outstanding fines of $6340.62.

August was also ordered to pay $310 reparation to police for the damage to the car.

The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 03/08/2010