I was in hospital having just given birth to my first child when the news about the kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie broke. Being all hormonal and a new mum anyway, it absolutely destroyed me that someone had kidnapped a baby. I was so relieved when she was found safe and well. If it had been otherwise I think I would have been a big mess for a while.

Even now I can't read or watch stories of babies or children being mistreated or killed. It just churns me up inside. This has only happened since I had children of my own. Damn hormones!

The most recent story which has affected me was the coverage of missing Wellington school girl, Olivia Rutherford.

I attended St Marys a few years ago and couldnt imagine having to deal with a situation like that, as well as facing everyday teenage issues. I was really hoping she was going to be found and couldnt stop thinking about her. I spent days constantly refreshing Stuff, hoping for good news.

Guess stories like those of Liberty, Olivia and Aisling should put things in perspective.

I use to work in Coronial Services where every single death that occurred in New Zealand had to be entered into a database by myself. Although I found the work really interesting I will always be so attached to the Lillybing case as she shared the same birthday as me. It was such a horrific event and so much of the story was covered up, makes me feel absolutely sick :(

Now thats what I call a good blog...

I'm quite glad to hear that it affects you and I hope that news of this kind affect everyone. I think that a lot of this violence and death are caused by people who can disassociate themselves too well from whats going on around them.

Have a safe weekend everyone.

I was nearly 6 when Teresa Cormack disappeared and my older sister was 7 so Mum freaked out a bit, and I remember being so confused about why anyone would take her. I've definitely had news stories that resonated with me like that though. Ben Smart and Olivia Hope was one of those - again a similar age to Olivia at the time so I think that has something to do with it.

I was affected when the news about the canyoning tragedy broke - my cousin was in the other adventure camp next to the one that Elim stayed at. She had done that activity just the day before. There but for the grace, go I.

I think stories resonate more if you have some sort of connection with them, or the event.

I am the same... If my husband wants to watch the news I generally leave the room. If you look at news websites, at least you can choose what you read and not get upset. My dad used to say that it was wrong not to watch the news, to know what's going on around you. Granted that was in the days before the net. But it's hard to maintain a positive view of the world and life in general when you see some of the stories. It's the animal cruelty ones that get to me. I can't watch them at all.

One disturbing fact about the murder of Michael Choy was that he DID manage to raise the alarm among local residents, and they kept their door closed on him and told him to go away. They didn't even call for an ambulance.

I remember the Teresa Cormack case well. The thing I remember the most (aside from the obvious horror that an angelic child had suffered such a horrible fate) was that the police claimed they KNEW who had killed her, but couldn't charge him because a suspect's rights were interfering with their investigation. The police spread the suspect's name far and wide to make life as difficult as possible for him. That man was refused service in shops, attacked and spat on when he went out in public, and his career and social life were butchered. He endured 2 decades of extreme harassment. The thing is, he was 100% innocent. Jules Mikas murdered Teresa Cormack.

A policeman's gut-instinct is a valuable weapon in the fight against crime. The problem is, all too many police officers are incapable of objectivity once they've set their mind to one suspect. As a result, many police "investigations" become witch-hunts designed to convict whoever they've taken a disliking to, and the prosecutors are all too willing to play their part in the "game" of convicting the suspect. Justice seems less about guilt or innocence, and more about their egos.

Just ask Scott Watson, David Bain and David Dougherty. Those are the crime-related news stories that stick in my mind.

Kahui twins. Enough said.

I would hope that most people are the same, in that they react in some way to really tragic news stories. And for me it's the crimes against children and animals that I find most distrubing.

I went onto the Paw Justice website to register my support for the cause and accidentally clicked on a link to one of the awful stories of abuse (despite my sister's prior warning) and still can't get my head around why people commit such horrible acts.