A Whangarei man accused of assaulting a mother of two during a domestic dispute who later died is now facing a manslaughter charge.

Eight people were taken to hospital after a stolen car crashed into another vehicle containing six people near where a police patrol had stopped to speak to a cyclist.

A Whangarei couple who between them stole more than $72,000 from taxpayers by making false statements to get benefits have been sentenced to home detention.

A Whangarei man who bashed another in a random act of street thuggery and stole petrol five times has avoided jail mainly thanks to the efforts of his lawyer.

A Whangarei mother of two has died in hospital after a domestic dispute and more serious charges are likely to be laid against the man accused of assaulting her.

Police cordoned off a Northland house following an alleged assault which left a woman critically injured in hospital.

The hunt for a super-sized Santa missing from atop a Thai restaurant in Whangarei is still continuing.

Footage from the police Taser gun allegedly used by a woman against a Northland policeman during a vicious assault is now being used as potential evidence against the attackers.

While those veges in the garden will be bolting with the warm rain, so too will the cannabis crops of Northland drug growers.

Enjoying a coffee and some lunch in the sun this summer just got more pleasant for customers at one ground-breaking Whangarei cafe.

Cameron Leslie has put on 6kg in three months and he's loving it.

Family members of a Northland father and son caught in rough weather when their jetski broke down headed back out to retrieve the jetski after the rescue.

A judge has warned parents whose children are being abused, threatened or intimidated not to take the law into their own hands.

Emergency services were called to the property on Finlayson Brook Rd in Waipu just before 9.30am where the fire was well involved, said a Northern Fire Communications spokesman.

Police want to catch an "idiot" who put a crude, homemade pipe bomb into a skip bin behind a business, prompting bomb disposal experts to race to the city.

Police are warning youngsters who present fake ID they could be charged with fraud as bar owners uncover the latest technique for creating dodgy driving licences.

A teenage girl has been charged with the murder of a 17-year-old who collapsed and died while shopping in Whangarei.

A man who murdered an Auckland man with a thistle grubber has been jailed for life with a non-parole period of 21 years.

House builders and buyers are creating a buzz on Whangarei's Tutukaka coast, as Aucklanders and expats have ramped up purchases of coastal property this year.