A woman who fatally ran over her former partner following a tense night of recovering her property from his West Auckland home was acting in “excessive self-defence”, her lawyer suggested today as she was sentenced to prison for manslaughter. But any such claim would need to be significantly tempered by Elizabeth Lynn Smith’s grossly disproportionate response, prosecutors countered. Justice Grant Powell appeared to agree, to an extent, with both sides in the High Court at Auckland today as he ordered a sentence of four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for the 41-year-old. Victim Dean Fifield, 48, may have been acting aggressively towards Smith’s friends as he cracked the windscreen of their car, but they were safely inside their vehicle with the doors locked and armed with a bat, the judge noted, adding that Fifield was particularly vulnerable because he had his back to Smith’s own car. “He was simply unaware of the danger and unable to take any avoiding action,” Justice Powell said, describing Smith’s Mazda Axela as “a large, unforgiving and formidable weapon”. Smith was initially charged with murder following Fifield’s death outside his home in June last year. She had been set to go to trial next week but instead pleaded guilty last month to the lesser charge. Smith and Fifield had previously lived together at the Moire Rd address in Massey. When she left the relationship, some property was left behind which she wanted back, court documents state. Auckland resident Dean Fifield was fatally struck by a car in Massey in June 2024. Elizabeth Lynn Smith was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Photo / Supplied The defendant tried to get assistance from police after Fifield initially ignored her requests, but police were not responsive, the court was told today. In affidavits filed to the court, two friends of Smith said she told them that if she didn’t contact them by 9pm that night something had gone wrong. They got worried and went to Fifield’s home to check on her around 11pm and found the two talking inside the house, the court was told. “Mr Fifield does not appear to have been happy at this development,” Justice Powell said. Nevertheless, a trunk belonging to Smith was recovered from the home with the help of her friend and placed in the boot of her car. Just as Smith and her friends were preparing to drive away in their separate cars, “Mr Fifield emerged from his house to confront you all”, the judge pointed out. That’s when he hit the windscreen of the defendant’s friends’ vehicle. Smith then drove out of the driveway and directly into Fifield. Auckland accountant Elizabeth Lynn Smith appears in the High Court at Auckland, charged with the June 2024 murder of Dean Fifield in Massey. Photo / Michael Craig “Ms Smith’s vehicle struck Mr Fifield, which propelled him onto the bonnet initially before he fell under the front of Ms Smith’s vehicle,” the agreed summary of facts states. “Ms Smith continued driving a short distance with Mr Fifield wedged underneath her vehicle. “Mr Fifield was trapped under the vehicle when it came to a stop on Moire Rd.” Fifield was pronounced dead at the scene, after emergency responders took measures to lift the car off him. Fifield’s family described him today as a loving father of three and a volunteer firefighter who took a keen interest in fitness. “If I could just hear one of his dad jokes one more time,” said his daughter, who described having grief as a constant companion over the past year. “If I could just hear his laugh one more time.” Family members expressed “profound disappointment” at police and prosecutors for the way the case was handled, as well as frustration with the media. “I have no faith left in a system that failed my father,” Fifield’s daughter said. Justice Powell acknowledged the “understandably devastating impact” of Fifield’s death on his friends and family and expressed hope that the sentencing hearing would help to provide some clos... Read...

A crash involving a car and motorcycle on the Northern Motorway at the foot of the Harbour Bridge has been cleared. NZTA said the collision was in the right, northbound lane near the Shelly Beach Rd overbridge. NZTA said the lane was blocked with motorists advised to take care passing the crash. The crash has been cleared, but drivers are told to expect delays until congestion has eased. Police said the motorway unit was in attendance, however, no serious injuries had been reported. Read...

The Government has unveiled plans to speed up the regulatory process companies need to go through to get supermarkets built in New Zealand. Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis said the three main supermarket businesses “exhibit major market power and effectively operate as a duopoly”. “The result is higher prices for New Zealand and fewer choices about where and how we shop.” Willis said feedback she’d heard from existing supermarket players and possible new entrants was that there were “far too many regulatory stop signs and red lights”. “They said these problems were made worse by restrictive council zoning and lengthy, uncertain, expensive consent processes,” she said. “They told us that the time and cost involved in applying for resource and building consents for new supermarkets creates uncertainty for any new development and makes New Zealand an unattractive place to set up shop. “We were told it can take up to four years to get permission for a new supermarket.” What the Govt is going to do To encourage supermarket competition, Willis said the Government will introduce legislation creating a specific fast-track pathway for new supermarket developments. “We are creating an express lane for new supermarkets,” she said. This will “significantly” speed up and simplify the building consent process for grocery store developments, Willis said. “Developers will also be offered the opportunity to get standardised building designs pre-approved through a new multi-proof scheme. Together, these changes will improve the consistency and pace of the building consent process for new supermarkets.” Willis said the Government’s proposed changes will reduce the time it takes to get consent to build a supermarket from about 18 months to a year. She is still exploring whether to require the country’s two grocery giants, Woolworths and Foodstuffs, to sell off their assets. These companies exercise a lot of power in wholesale and retail spaces. “A decision to restructure the supermarkets is not a decision that would be taken lightly. It would be a significant intervention that would carry costs and risks that would need to be rigorously weighted against the potential benefits to shoppers,” Willis said. “A cost-benefit analysis is underway on specific options for restructuring the duopoly and will inform future advice I intend to take to Cabinet on whether further legislative changes are required to improve competition.” The consenting changes the Government has decided to make include: Clarify grocery developers’ eligibility for the fast-track approvals process Establish a single building consent process for supermarket developments Remove restrictions to use MultiProof for faster building consent of standardised designs “With these changes, well-planned and investment-ready new supermarkets have a streamlined pathway to attaining approvals for development,” Willis said. She said the Government decided to make consenting changes on the back of feedback it received from the sector after it issued it with a voluntary “Request for Information”. This request revealed five prospective new domestic competitors and credible growth aspirations among several existing grocery retailers. “Ultimately those businesses will make their own investment decisions about whether and when to launch new supermarkets - the Government’s policy changes are intended to give them more confidence to do so,” Willis said. “We have been in talks with Costco about its plans to open more stores in New Zealand... “Their single West Auckland store has already markedly changed competitive dynamics in that local area and has provided a major export-pathway for New Zealand food producers. “Costco has confirmed the Government’s express lane consenting approach will assist with their future expansion plans. They have also confirmed they can see opportunities for new stores to be built in New Zealand in the next few years.” Willis said it was disappointing that other ma... Read...

The gender pay gap in New Zealand has narrowed to a record low, new data shows. The pay gap between men and women was 5.2% in the June 2025 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. It is a drop from 8.2% in the corresponding period last year. Dellwyn Stuart, co-founder of campaign group Mind the Gap, said the figure showed a “trend in the right direction”, but more movement was needed. Stuart told the Herald the narrowing gap follows “a few good interventions” in the past five years. “I think it’s on the back of the very successful Mind the Gap campaign, and the work that the public service did under the last Government around mandating pay gap measurement and reporting. “And then for this Government, it followed up by creating a gender pay gap toolkit that’s freely available. So there has been quite a few good interventions in the last five years and I think we’re seeing that impact now. “But we need more information and there is more to go. Any pay gap based on gender or ethnicity is unacceptable.” The gender pay gap is the difference between the average pay of men versus the average pay of women. Stuart said Stats NZ’s new figure is a broad look at the overall gap but Pasifika and Maori women had a much larger pay difference. Mind the Gap co-founder Dellwyn Stuart says the narrower gap follows `a few good interventions` in the past five years. Photo / Michael Bradley “I’d be interested to see if their pay gaps have also shrunk in a way that is significant,” she said. Professor Gail Pacheco, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, called the data “hugely encouraging”. “Put simply, that means the median woman now earns about 95c for every dollar earned by the median man,” Pacheco said. She agreed with Stuart on the ethnic pay gaps and also noted Stats NZ’s figure did not cover the self-employed or unemployed. Stats NZ’s labour market spokeswoman Abby Johnston said the data showed the lowest pay gap since records began in 1998. “Annually, the gender pay gap declined by three percentage points, the first statistically significant annual decline noted since 2017,” she said. Stats NZ said the gap had narrowed because of women receiving larger increases in median hourly earnings from wages and salaries than men. The new figure comes on the same day five labour unions announced plans for a rally outside the High Court at Wellington on Friday over Government legislation cancelling their members’ pay equity claims. Pay equity, as opposed to equal pay, is the same remuneration for different work that has the same or similar level of skill or responsibility, the Ministry of Women says. Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tamaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022. Read...

Denheath Desserts, with its famous custard squares, has been placed in liquidation. The Official Assignee was appointed to Denheath Corporation Ltd last Thursday, a notice in the New Zealand Gazette said. A little over 12% of Denheath shares were owned by the estate of Brian James Kenton. The executors of Kenton’s estate applied to the High Court at Timaru to liquidate the company in March. The Official Assignee’s notice told creditors or anyone with information to help the liquidation process to contact them on the insolvency.govt.nz website. Denheath’s directors, Donald and Lisa Templeton, had 71.49% of shares in the company. Geoff Cloake had 5.6%, Vaughan Moloney owned 4%, Albert and Raymond Gain owned 4%, Josephine Turnell, Mark and Sarah Lawson owned 1.6% and Kevin Guthrie 0.8%. The Herald has approached Lisa Templeton for comment. The Herald has not been able to access the company’s website following the announcement, and the Timaru Herald reported the business was closed when it visited. Denheath once said its squares were “as Kiwi as alpine ranges, glacier-fed lakes and little men with hairy feet”. The Official Assignee was appointed to Denheath Corporation Ltd last Thursday, a notice in the New Zealand Gazette said. Photo / Denheath Desserts It also made profiteroles and cheesecakes. The name came from Denheath House – a country café at the old post office in sleepy little Pleasant Point, South Canterbury. That was the birthplace of the uniquely different, light and fluffy Denheath Custard Square. The original owners of the cafe where the squares were sold were Dennis Knight and his potter wife Heather, hence the name Denheath. Lisa Templeton worked in the Knights’ arts and craft shop in Pleasant Point when she was at secondary school. The family-owned manufacturer has sold its products in more than 53 Costco outlets in NZ, Australia, Korea and Japan. Templeton said Denheath was “lucky” in 2013 to forge into Costco Australia when the American-headquartered giant had only a few stores across the Tasman and was yet to open here. The company was put up for sale at the end of 2023, the Timaru Herald said. Lisa Templeton was unwell at the time and wanted to spend more time with family, the paper reported. The company launched a fundraiser for $1.2 million in 2016 to fund an upgrade of its factory. The fundraiser fell short, raising just under $380,000, the Timaru Herald said. Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tamaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022. Read...

A family on Auckland’s North Shore have been left terrified after being sent a letter from an anonymous driver.  The letter was in response to an alleged incident while an 18-year-old student was crossing the Harbour Bridge. It was not delivered by a postal service.  The student’s father has now gone to the police and is outraged, saying it is a “very, very scary” thought that someone possibly abused their power to threaten his family.  The dad, who wished to remain anonymous, said the letter had his wife’s full name and their address at the top of the letter, because the car is registered to her, followed by a veiled threat.  “Re: 07:30am, Friday 15th August on ramp before Auckland Harbor Bridge.  “If you are going to drive like an a****** and almost cause a crash with your lane changes, make sure its not to a person who can find where you live.”  The sender identified themselves only as “Person you nearly ran off the road”.  A North Shore family are frightened after an anonymous sender delivered a typed letter to their home. The father said he originally did not entertain the threat as his wife had not been driving at that time, but then he discovered his daughter had borrowed her mum’s car that morning.  He said, although he was not pleased to hear his daughter had possibly been driving dangerously, the idea that someone was abusing their privileges greatly concerned him.  He said his daughter could not even recall the incident. There was no contact with another car, and she did not remember anyone honking at her.  “At the end of the day, new drivers and all the rest of it, they have to cut their teeth on the job, and that is obviously getting used to the road.”  He said he did not know how soon after the incident the letter got dropped off, but he found it three days after the sender alleged they were wronged.  “This takes sort of road rage to another level, doesn’t it?  “You’ve got somebody there who’s clearly got a job where they have access to privacy, you know, your address, all that sort of stuff.  “And clearly they’ve abused their ability to have that and used it for their own personal gain.  “And then gone ahead and made this threat … very, very scary for somebody who’s, you know, an 18-year-old girl.”  He said his daughter and wife have been left shaken, wondering if the person is watching their home.  He said it was clear the sender felt some amount of remorse or guilt about their actions, because he or she chose not to leave a name and number with the note.  A police spokesperson said they had received information about an unsigned letter that was delivered to a North Shore address between August 16-20.  “The letter referenced a vehicle that is connected to the property.  “It is not known how personal information relating to the vehicle was accessed and shared.  “Police have not received any other complaints of this nature and will assess the report for any further lines of inquiry.”  The Privacy Commissioner said information about motor vehicles, including car number plates, is held by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and can be accessed in several different ways by authorised users, with authorisation granted by NZTA.  “Unauthorised access or use of this information can lead to a range of privacy harms, including theft and emotional harm.  “In a situation where access has occurred without authorisation, we expect the responsible business to assess whether the breach has caused or is likely to cause serious harm and therefore whether the breach requires notification to my office.”  A spokesperson for NZTA said it consults the Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner and police (our advising agencies) before deciding whether to grant an authorisation to the Motor Vehicle Register (the MVR).  NZTA requires all parties to use the MVR to report every 12 months, providing evidence that they h... Read...

Vector`s outage map shows it is affecting up to 20 roads in Mangere Bridge. Read...

Bayley’s latest New Zealand Retail Market Update shows a 13% vacancy rate in the Auckland CBD. Read...

The city has been through the wringer but there are signs of improvement, an expert says. Read...

Those commuting to or living in Auckland CBD would have noticed thick fog on Thursday morning. Read...