RYAN ANDERSON/STUFF
Hinerangi Himiona and Hone Mihaka tell the story of their tupuna who was the first person executed by the Crown in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Nearly 180 years ago, at a central Auckland intersection, a teenager was hanged before hundreds of settlers, changing the course of history. The execution still haunts the boy’s whanaunga, a legacy to the disproportionate treatment of Māori in the justice system today. Early one morning, a Māori teenager named Maketū woke to the sound of carpenters building the instrument of his death. For months, he had lived in a wretched, rat-infested jail cell on Queen St in central Auckland as he waited to stand trial. It was early in 1842, and the new colony’s justice system was literally being built; the finishing touches were being made to the new Supreme Court building next-door while Maketū awaited judgment.
BBC News
By Dominic Casciani
image captionDennis Warren, deceased, and Ricky Tomlinson: Among the 14 appellants in the case
Trade unionists attempting to overturn convictions in a 47-year-long campaign have told the Court of Appeal they were victims of an establishment plot.
The 14-strong group, including actor Ricky Tomlinson, say police destroyed evidence, and shadowy security chiefs prejudiced their trial.
The men were convicted over allegedly illegal protests during a 1972 strike.
Six of the 14 have since died, including Dennis Warren, who was jailed for three years.
Their families are continuing the cases in their names. Tomlinson, then known as Eric, was jailed for two years in the first of three trials that lasted until 1974.
A City banker who was jailed for five-and-a-half years for manipulating interest rates has been reunited with his wife and son following his release - and says he can t wait to eat a doner kebab.
Tom Hayes, 36, who was known by colleagues as Rain Man because of his obsessive personality, spearheaded a global conspiracy to manipulate London interbank offered rates (Libor) in order to make more money on his trades.
He became the first trader convicted of rigging Libor interest rates and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Arundel, Sussex - but only served half his time prior to his release yesterday.