Group aims to make fatherhood fun

First-time dad Chris Goodman hopes a new group for dads in Marlborough which encourages them to get more involved with their children will catch on.

Mr Goodman is a member of Active Dads Marlborough, run through the Marlborough branch of Barnardos.

The group was a forum for dads to talk, swap parenting advice and to ask questions, he said.

"A lot of dads get a bit scared. The traditional thinking is mums always look after the children."

He and wife Chloe have a six-week-old son, Jack, and had a lot of questions before he was born.

"One thing this group is good for is for new people in Blenheim. If you don't know many people, you can't really ask questions and compare notes."

Mr Goodman, who works for Sport Tasman, is originally from Nelson and spent the past four years in living in Canada.

Part of his job was working with parents, teachers and children at early childhood centres, so being around children came easy to him.

However, he could see how being around children and looking after them could be difficult for some dads.

"You don't have to be so careful you don't interact at all."

Promoting the group would hopefully encourage other dads to join, go to events together with their children, meet people and have a support network, he said.

It would not be difficult to entice other dads to join if the group held events they would actually enjoy going to.

"Men shouldn't be afraid of taking their kids out and hanging out," he said.

Check out the Active Dads Marlborough website

- The Marlborough Express

SIMON WONG

Last updated 16:00 29/02/2012

Fatherly advice: Chris Goodman, of Blenheim, with his six-week-old son, Jack. Mr Goodman is part of the new group Active Dads Marlborough and hopes more fathers will join to talk, swap advice and hang out.

Goody #4 07:38 pm Feb 29 2012

Cheers! That's a good idea! I'll suggest it to the organiser.

Moriarty #3 06:11 pm Feb 29 2012

Go Chrissy! Such a good photo of you two....but mainly of Jack because he's just so damn cute!

Anna #2 04:57 pm Feb 29 2012

this is such a good idea .. even dads need support! have you thought about starting a facebook group as well?

Anna #1 04:57 pm Feb 29 2012

this is such a good idea .. even dads need support! have you thought about starting a facebook group as well?

Committed to doing their duty

Marlborough people are committed to performing their civic duty on trial juries compared to the rest of the country, according to the Justice Ministry.

The information, released through the Official Information Act, shows almost one-third of those called up in Marlborough appear for jury service in the Blenheim District Court or the High Court at Blenheim compared to 21 per cent nationally.

Nearly twice as many people nationally do not turn up to be part of the jury pool compared to Marlborough. About the same percentage of people are excused from sitting on the jury panel.

District courts general manager Tony Fisher said anyone who is registered to vote is eligible to serve on a jury within the district that they live in.

Prospective jurors are picked at random and names are scanned by the ministry's Jury Management System to exclude people who may be ineligible including those who may have a criminal history.

People in certain jobs, including lawyers and police officers, are not eligible to be called.

Those who are identified as having a criminal history are checked by court staff and either excluded from the pool or put back in the list of people summoned for jury duty, he said.

Those who receive the call for jury service can adjourn their appearance for another time within 12 months if the time is inconvenient.

Potential jurors who do not turn up to court without a reasonable excuse can be fined up to $1000 by the court, but are given a chance to explain first.

None of the 349 people in Marlborough who failed to show up last year were fined.

Mr Fisher said there was no reason why people were called for jury service several times a year, despite some anecdotal evidence.

"The selection is purely random."

In January, a chosen juror for a rape trial at the Blenheim District Court was stood down because she stated out loud that the accused man was guilty.

The ministry said it did not keep formal records of incidents such as this, but it would be "uncommon".

- The Marlborough Express

SIMON WONG

Last updated 16:00 01/03/2012

Wallet returned

Wallet returned

To whom it may concern.

Thank you for handing my wallet in to the Blenheim police station on Saturday.

IDA FORTUNE, Blenheim

Rodeo rides for all sizes

Eight seconds is a long time when you're riding a bucking bronco or a raging bull – just ask the competitors at the Tua Marina Rodeo and vintage machinery field day yesterday.

About 3000 people gathered to watch the spectacle and the organisers say they had more entrants in the events than previous years.

The rodeo was an annual fundraiser for Tua Marina School, the township's vintage machinery club and residents' association and the Tua Marina Cowboys.

Jacinta Sheridan, who competed in the second division steer and bull ride, said her ride yesterday was the best she had done.

She had started at about three years old riding sheep and then graduated to calves and steers, she said.

There was a lot of mental preparation involved beforehand, but it helped to try and not think about the ride.

"It's easier to just get on and do it."

Among the other competitors was first-time rider Tom O'Sullivan, of Awatere Valley, who said he had been wanting to ride for a long time.

A workmate had been bullriding in Australia and talked about it all the time, he said.

The eight seconds which was the time required for each ride felt like a long time, he said.

Before his ride he went over what he needed to do in his head and also got tips from his workmate and from other riders, he said.

Competitor Robert Sheridan said he had only received bumps and bruises since he began riding about nine years ago.

The goal of many competitive riders was to break into the Australian or American rodeo circuit because there was more money involved, he said.

Another novice, Zhen Schruers, from Greymouth, rode a bull for the first time at a rodeo in Reefton the weekend before the Tua Marina Rodeo.

He was keen to carry on bull riding and other riders had been helpful and given him pointers, he said.

Mr Schruers did not stay on for the full eight seconds, but said while riding the bull he "zoned out" and just tried to hang on for as long as he could.

"[The time] goes way slower. It seems like you're on there for ages."

President of the organising committee Grant Sheridan said entries were up on previous years including 14 entries in the under 45kg calf ride which normally attracted about seven riders.

Twelve bronco riders had also entered this year compared with about six in previous years.

- The Marlborough Express

IMON WONG

Last updated 11:30 27/02/2012

Robert Sheridan in the bare back event

Diving at farms may end in tragedy

New Zealand King Salmon is warning that unauthorised diving and filming at their farms in the Marlborough Sounds could end in tragedy because of the underwater hazards.

But the man behind the incident that prompted the warning says he had no intention to dive near the farm in the Tory Channel and the warning was unnecessary.

The company has put out a public safety notice which says no-one should be diving near the farms without authority to make sure the company's health and safety standards are met.

King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne said the notice was prompted by the actions of French Pass man Danny Boulton who was seen heading toward the Tory Channel farm with filming equipment on Tuesday.

Mr Rosewarne said Mr Boulton had been in contact with the company about organising a tour of a farm with potential for a dive and to film.

The company welcomed the dive and filming, but only if all safety issues were addressed beforehand, he said.

Mr Rosewarne said Mr Boulton was seen heading toward the farms on Tuesday without the company having seen his diving certification and equipment.

The major hazards under and on the water included nets, mooring lines and weighted ropes, he said.

"We have a specialist diving team who train to the same level as the New Zealand Navy and we do not allow them to go below 30 metres," Mr Rosewarne said.

"We don't want someone with lesser qualifications going further than that."

There was "no mystery" about what lay underneath the farms which was mostly worms and micro-organisms, he said.

The company was open to diving at the farms as long as it was planned in the right way.

Mr Boulton told the Express he and several other people were at the top of the Sounds early last week doing an underwater survey in Tory Channel.

He called the King Salmon office while on the boat to say he only wanted to put a drop camera down to have a look underneath and did not want to dive.

Mr Boulton was then told the company needed more notice and a supervisor needed to be present.

They later stopped at one of the farms to take a photo and talked to a worker to ask when a supervisor would be at the farm.

Mr Boulton said they did not put the camera down during that trip because there was no supervisor present.

He was concerned further aquaculture development in the Sounds would degrade the marine environment further.

The warning was unnecessary because he was the only member of the public who had asked for permission to dive at the farm, he said.

SIMON WONG

Last updated 11:30 27/02/2012

Student leaders

Last updated 15:13 23/02/2012

EMMA ALLEN

STUDENT LEADERS: Back row from left, Daniel Goldthorpe, Logan Kerwin, Billy Rayner, Piers Dashfield, Luis Francia, Braedon O'Brien and Alex Bowen. Third row, from left, Corey Hebberd, Hugh Gilchrist, Glenn Wallace, Bevan Moody, Peter Crampton and Hayden Beavis. Second row, from left, Jared Silcock, Mick Boon, Luke McCulloch and Ollie Baker. Front row, from left, Sean Murray, Kenneth Hill, deputy head boy Alex Garvan, head boy Jack Keown, deputy head boy Logan Anderson, Andrew Jeffries and Scott Webley. Absent are: Kieran Raemaki, Leatham Landon-Lane, Ryan Tucker and Tom Murray.

The 2012 Marlborough Boys' College prefects

Killer is denied freedom

A Blenheim man who murdered his wife with a hatchet more than a decade ago has lost another bid for release from prison.

John Frederick Ericson was convicted of his wife's murder in April 2000 and sentenced to life in prison after admitting the charge.

In July 1999 he struck his wife Sandra in the back of the head 22 times with a hatchet while she slept.

He phoned police after the attack and admitted killing his wife, but later claimed he had no memory of it.

Ericson has been denied parole multiple times and in 2010 asked for a royal pardon.

On February 17 he appeared in the High Court at Wellington and applied for release from prison, arguing he was being held illegally because not all evidence was released to his defence team before he made his plea.

Justice Denis Clifford declined the application on the day, and a written decision outlining the reasons was released on Monday.

Ericson's application was based on habeas corpus which is a legal action through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention because of a lack of sufficient cause or evidence.

Ericson made the application because he believed the Crown had not provided full disclosure to him and his defence counsel before he pleaded guilty.

He outlined four statements and reports which he had obtained after his conviction which were two statements to police, a report by a clinical psychologist and blood tests taken while he was detained at Sunnyside Hospital after the killing.

Withholding the documents was a basis to challenge the guilty plea and conviction, Ericson argued.

All the documents relate to what Ericson believed showed the effects of medication he had taken the day he killed his wife.

Justice Clifford denied the application because it was a challenge to his conviction, not his unlawful detention. While this application was declined, Justice Clifford told Ericson he could apply to the Court of Appeal to appeal the conviction on the grounds of non-disclosure.

The decision says Ericson raised other issues during the application which did not relate to the non-disclosure, including the destruction of blood taken from him without him being given the chance to have the blood analysed.

The axe which the Crown believed was used in the killing had also been destroyed.

- The Marlborough Express SIMON WONG

Last updated 11:30 23/02/2012