New Zealand - Violent Drunken Brits filling up the jails
Boozy tourists clogging up Queenstown courts, says judge
JUDGES in Queenstown are fed up with rowdy tourists behaving badly in the New Zealand ski resort town.
Travellers to the popular South Island destination were clogging up the court system with alcohol and drug-related charges, a district judge said this week.
In court on Tuesday, Judge Paul Kellar told a Canadian man charged with assault and theft that he was part of a much larger problem in Queenstown, the Southland Times reported.
"Regrettably you are one of many people who visit this part of the country, drink to excess and engage in acts of violence," Judge Kellar said.
On Wednesday, when considering a South African man's application for a discharge without conviction on a drug-dealing charge, Judge Kellar said every time he sat in Queenstown, there were international tourists who appeared on drug charges.
He convicted the man - it's likely he will be deported, along with his family.
Other judges have also been critical of the volume of alcohol-related convictions in Queenstown, the New Zealand Herald reported.
In September, Judge Kevin Phillips said he would start imposing heavier sentences on drink-drivers in the region because the offence had reached "epidemic proportions".
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes said binge drinking was a growing concern.
"There's no question that we have a reputation, amongst many young national and international visitors, as a party town," he said today.
"Many of the companies that brought groups of young people (told them to) ... save your party energies until you hit Queenstown because it's open 24 hours-a-day and that's the place to really enjoy yourself.
"What we have a problem with is when that activity spills over and impacts in a negative way, on the rest of the community and the rest of the people that are visiting Queenstown."
He said according to police statistics on alcohol-related crime, Aussies were "over-represented", but that was because they were the largest market.
"You tend to get more assaults from visitors from the UK than you do from any other single market," Mr Geddes said.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt told AAP 1.7 million people flocked to the ski resorts last year.
"Visitors often outnumber the locals and while it's a shame that a small minority of visitors may act irresponsibly the majority of people abide by New Zealand laws," he said.
Otago rural area police commander Mike Cook told the New Zealand Herald the impact of the misuse of alcohol on Queenstown was "an issue".
