The English lawer convicted of conspiring to kidnap Wellington businessman Bill Trotter has apologised for what he called the hurt caused to the victim and his family. John Burrett was given the maximum penalty of seven years jail by the High Court today and his 22 year old nephew, Matthew Payne, was jailed for five years. On Friday they were found guilty of conspiring to kidnap Mr Trotter at gunpoint and hold in a bunker in an Upper Hutt forest. In his sentencing today Justice Hammond described their crime as "appalling" In a moment we'll hear from John Burett's wife Jennifer but first we're joined by our Court Reporter Merle Nowland who was at the sentencing. LIVE WITH DROPINS
I asked his wife Jenni Burrett for her reaction to the sentence. PREREC
Its been a day of dramatic developments in the Police investigation into a shooting at south auckland liquor store earlier this month. Early this morning, around 20 armed officers swooped on a home near Silverdale, north of Auckland, and detectives took three people into custody. This afternoon a man has [illegible] in court charged with attempted murder and aggravated robbery, as well as one count of using a firearm in the commission of a crime. Sarah Howison has been following events and she joins me now... LIVE
The head of Southland Hospital says he's unable to confirm whether an Invercargill girl had to wait four hours at the hospital before she was diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease, meningitis. The girl has now been flown to Auckland's Starship Childrens' Hospital and is in a stable condition in intensive care.
The Health Minister has asked for a report on the case from the Southland District Health Board, and Invercargill MP Mark Peck says the Minister has told him that suspected meningitis cases should be diagnosed within minutes of their arrival at hospital. The DHB's chief executive Dr Gershu Paul says the girl was brought to hospital on Friday morning but he knew nothing about the alleged delay until this week. PREREC
BUSINESS with SHARON BRETT-KELLY
The associate Māori Affairs minister, John Tamihere has come under fire for his comments that traditional iwi leaders may not have the skills to take Māori forward. Mr Tamihere has criticised long-standing Māori figures such as Sir Graham Latimer for "strangling" the next generation of leaders. But that's prompted Winston Peters to accuse him of insulting Maoridom, and in turn question Mr Tamihere's leadership creditianals. Our political reporter Julian Robins has been following the story and he joins us now... LIVE WITH DROPINS
The American government is facing increasing allegations it mislead the world over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Top US lawmakers have begun hearings to decide whether US President George Bush exaggerated the threat posed to the world by Saddam Hussein. Some leading opposition Democrats claim the White House hyped the risks to justify the invasion of Iraq, and are demanding documents be handed over. Our Washington correspondent Steve Mort reports. PKGE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
In Fiji, security's been tight in Suva as a Supreme Court session opened to consider the legality of the government.
Police have surrounded the main government buildings and say there'll be a heavy police presence throughout the three day hearing. The court will hear evidence about whether the Labour Party should be allowed to be part of the government.
The High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled that it should, based on part of the Constitution which says all parties with at least 10 per cent of the parliamentary seats can be in government. Jonathan Fraenkel is a political analyst based in Suva with the University of the South Pacific and he joins me now. LIVE
An Air New Zealand jet is being checked after it was forced to make an emergency descent during a flight between Auckland and Wellington this morning. The Boeing 737 aircraft, with 128 people on board, suffered a pressurisation problem twenty minutes into the flight. The pilot diverted the flight back to Auckland where it landed safely. Mike Williams was one of the passengers. CUT Craig Sinclair is Air New Zealand's senior vice president of operations and technical. He joins us now. LIVE
The Greens and New Zealand First say an Auditor-General report into the ACT party's use of Parliamentary resources is a whitewash. The ACT party was [illegible] of bending the rules in the way it uses tax-payer funding, meant for out-of-Parliament staffing and office space. Here's our political reporter, Jane Patterson. PKGE
Scientists with the International Whaling Commission say there's growing and compelling evidence that there is little justification for killing whales in the name of scientific research.
Every year countries such as Japan and Iceland hunt and kill hundreds of whales for what they say are scientific purposes.
At the Commission's meeting in Berlin a majority on the scientific committee has again expressed concern about a practice it sees as a front for banned commercial whaling. Scott Baker is a New Zealand delegate on the committee - he says with current advances in molecular biology there is little reason for whales to die in the interests of science. PREREC
About thirty seven thousand British pensioners living in New Zealand have been dealt a blow by a court ruling upholding a freeze on their pension payments. British superannuitants who move to certain countries have their pension frozen at the rate at which they were first paid, and not adjusted for inflation. The United Kingdom Court of Appeal dismissed a case taken by Annette Carson, a British pensioner living in South Africa, which challenged this policy. In New Zealand, British superannuitants have their pensions topped up to the same level as their New Zealand counterparts. I asked the secretary of the British Pensioners Association Harry King why British pensioners should be paid any more than New Zealanders. PREREC
MANA NEWS
An emergency was been declared after a plane flying to Palmerston North from Samoa was diverted to Gisborne this evening. It's thought three people were on board the aircraft.
Auckland reporter Anna Louise Taylor joins me now. LIVE
CLOSE & THEME