14 Sep 2009

67 charged over Dunedin student disorder

9:46 pm on 14 September 2009

Sixty-seven people have been charged in relation to the disorder in Dunedin that followed the arrival in the city of the 'Undie 500' pub crawl from Christchurch at the weekend.

The police say the charges include disorderly behaviour, obstruction, wilfully setting fire to property and breaching a temporary liquor ban.

Three of those charged will appear in the Dunedin District Court on Tuesday and the rest on Thursday and Friday.

About 80 people were arrested on Friday and Saturday nights, as couches were burned in the streets and police officers pelted with bottles and bricks.

It was the fourth year in a row that trouble had flared after the arrival of the cars from Christchurch.

Several calls for event to be scrapped

The University of Otago intends to take disciplinary action against any of its students identified as participants in the disorder. Under a code of conduct, any students involved in disorder could be expelled or fined.

Vice-chancellor David Skegg has also added his voice to those calling for the Undie 500 to be discontinued. Dunedin mayor Peter Chin and Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson both want it scrapped.

Event organiser Carl Shrimpton acknowledges that the future of the event is in question again, but says there's no guarantee that abandoning it would solve any problems. When it was postponed last year, he says, a rogue event led to chaos.

Mr Shrimpton says a debriefing will be held with the police and the Dunedin City Council before a decision is made on the Undie 500.