Teen-agers fight policemen

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33066, 6 November 1972, Page 18

Teen-agers fight policemen

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 5. About 200 teen-agers wielding chairlegs and bottles clashed with the police during an incident at a community hall at Titahi Bay tonight.

The police took half an hour to bring the situation under control.

They made five arrests at the hail and said others would probably also be arrested.

Many of the teen-agers were aged only 13 or 14, and some had been drinking.

A Molotov cocktail set fire to a curtain in the hall after

the brawl had ended, and the wall was soon ablaze. However, firemen had the fire under control in about 15 minutes.

The trouble began about 8.30 p.m. when the police were called to the hall, where a picture was being shown. When they arrived, the picture was stopped and the crowd began to fight the policemen. Reinforcements were called in and by about 9 p.m. the situation was almost under control.

In the hall, chairs were broken, and curtains were ripped, and the floors were scorched by fireworks.

Hall momentos Three coloured pictures of the Christchurch Town Hall —large postcards—are on sale at the Town Hall. The biggest one is a magnificent photograph taken in the auditorium during the opening concert. The others are a photograph of the Town Hall from Victoria Square at dawn, with the Ferrier Fountain lit and the lights on in the Limes Room, and a view of the Town Hall from the floral clock.