Nine on liquor charges

Press, 3 January 1985, Page 4

Nine on liquor charges

PA Tauranga Nine men appeared in the District Court at Tauranga yesterday charged with having liquor in the prohibition area of Mount Maunganui’s Marine Parade on New Year’s Eve. An amendment to the Local Government Act last month after the Queen Street riots on December 7 gave local authorities the power to prohibit alcohol from specified areas. Judge Wilson fined two of the men $350. Another was fined $250 after saying he had come from Wellington on a motor-cycle and did not know there was a prohibition. ■ A man who admitted having a bottle of beer in the Soundshell but said he had been at a party in the vicinity was also fined $250. Sergeant Ron Lynch said a man who had liquor and Cola in a bottle was told to leave the area or put the

bottle in a rubbish bin. The man went to the bin and began drinking from the bottle. The Judge fined him $3OO. Three men who denied having liquor in the area were remanded on bail for hearings this month. Another had a similar charge adjourned to Wanganui without plea.

There were 23 arrests during the celebrations this year compared with 76 last year, when 30 of those arrested were each fined $4OO for breaking bottles.

The new legislation resulted in what police describe as the quietest celebrations at Mount Maunganui for three years.