Hundreds of people are expected to attend Saturday afternoon's service for the two Dunedin children killed by their father.

The man who shot dead his two children in Dunedin before killing himself is understood to have taken the murder weapon from his former flatmate's gunsafe.

Doing donuts on a park in Dunedin is 'frowned upon' says police who charged an ex-Dunedin boy for cutting up park in his old home town.

Authorities missed many red flags before Bradley and Ellen Livingstone were killed by their father in their Dunedin home.

Ed Livingstone's former wife felt "constantly harassed" and feared for the safety of her family in the months before he killed their two children and took his own life.

As Katharine Webb ran from her house, she heard two shots. Moments later, as she arrived at her neighbour's home, she screamed "he's got a gun and is going to kill my babies".

Nine-year-old Bradley Livingstone was always looking out for his little sister Ellen.

Threatening to kill the children and then commit suicide is a classic tactic of men seeking 'power and control' over their partners, two experts say.

A small school community is mourning two "happy and content'' children who were gunned down in their Dunedin home last night.

A bruised and bleeding Mosgiel woman blames the Dunedin City Council for her seeing in the new year at Dunedin Hospital.

A 25-year-old Dunedin student is fighting for her life after she was struck by a petrol tanker yesterday morning.

A driver 'made the right decision' to stay in his car after it skidded off the road in the wet - leaving him hanging on - literally - for help to arrive.

OceanaGold plans to scale back its operations and is expected to axe more than 100 jobs at the Macraes goldfield in Otago in response to a falling gold price.

Firefighters in Dunedin are worried about the tempting trail of trash left on student streets in the city as Scarfies "can't help setting things on fire".

Thousands of dollars worth of irreplaceable Masonic medals have been stolen from the lodge's Dunedin centre in a Christmas crime which has disgusted members.

Christmas Day hasn't even arrived yet, but for the past few days the Stainer family has been celebrating like all its Christmases have come at once.

A flash storm that dropped hail stones the size of golf balls caught residents near Ashburton off guard last night.

'It's not the sort of thing you'd want to come across when you're getting the paper from the mailbox.' A fur seal surprised Dunedin residents yesterday.

Parts of Dunedin were flooded late yesterday afternoon when a thunderstorm struck, causing havoc for some central-city businesses.

'Not knowing whether they're going to survive is stressful,' says a man who hit a woman on a pedestrian crossing. The pair now want to prevent similar accidents.

Violent drunken offending in Dunedin was unrelenting and something needed to be done about it, Judge Michael Crosbie yesterday told a man who headbutted another man while drunk in a Mosgiel pub earlier this year.

Dunedin police will not reveal how a man, whom they described as a dangerous criminal, was able to escape from custody at the Dunedin Central police station this week.

A special ceremony at a Dunedin hospice has proved that love truly can conquer all, as a bride married her sweetheart - who has just days to live.

What are the top toys for Christmas? 6-year-old Maya Satake can tell you - she's one of four official toy testers for The Warehouse.

Student numbers are expected to increase at the University of Otago next year, turning around three years of declining enrolments at the institution.