Former Speaker of the House Sir Kerry Burke has been convicted of drink-driving in the Christchurch District Court. Burke, 73, admitted driving with a breath-alcohol level of 517mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath. Police prosecutor Sergeant Glenn Pascoe said Burke was found driving his Volkswagen in Christchurch at 4.54pm on November 14.Alcohol levels above 250mcg draw an infringement notice, and levels above 400mcg mean prosecution at court. Defence counsel Andy Ogilvie said it was Burke's ...

Cantabrians whose homes were irreparably damaged in the earthquakes may have missed out on tens of thousands of dollars in insurance money.A Court of Appeal decision this week ordered Southern Response, the Crown-owned company that handles AMI's claims, to pay a home owner an extra $300,000 in costs associated with rebuilding the property.

The money is for out of scope work such as architect and engineering fees and surveying costs. Southern Response had disputed...

Sitting in his sloping and half-packed St Martins home, 92-year-old Alf Johnson has only one question for his insurance company.
"Why am I still waiting for a new house?"After a decision was finally reached to demolish and rebuild his Roscoe St property last April, Johnson was under instruction to pack and be ready to vacate his home around Christmas.

Christmas came and went and Johnson remains in his slanted house. His story is another in a series of "vulnerable"...