Mob with kids leave rubbish, get aggressive at Auckland beach

Monday, 14 January 2019

Rubbish left strewn accross Takapuna Beach's reserve by a large group on Sunday.

A large group of tourists left rubbish strewn across a beach-side park in Auckland, and threatened to assault people who complained, a witness says.

The group, described by Krista Curnow as an 'Irish family' of 'approximately 12' including two babies, left beer boxes, bottles and baby wipes at Takapuna Beach on Sunday afternoon.

Curnow, 28, filmed the group, and her video showing a young boy – part of the family – with an Irish accent telling her he would 'knock your brains out' has been viewed more than 300,000 times on Facebook.

'We approached the family to ask them if they can please not leave without picking up their rubbish, their response was basically if we have a problem then we can pick it up and that that's what the council is for,' she wrote in her post.

* Litter by Little: Sage says cleaning up trash is 'the way we do it around here'**

'We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, how dare people come to NZ and disrespect our country, this is our home.'

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has tweeted his support of Curnow, saying that 'some people need reminding' to keep New Zealand clean and green.

Thank you for standing up for our beaches and public spaces. Some people need reminding. https://t.co/pGYYv4Tr1h

— Phil Goff (@phil_goff) January 14, 2019

One video in Curnow's post showed an expanse of grass under a pohutukawa, covered with litter and with members of the group walking away from it pushing a pram and holding bottles.

A second video showed her interaction with a furious-sounding young boy with an Irish accent in an oversized straw hat, who walks towards Curnow on a footpath before an adult member of the group smiling and holding a beer bottle – grabs him. Curnow calls him a 'naughty little s…' in the video.

She said the boy had 'deliberately poured chips onto our blanket' earlier in the day.

After following the members of the group as they left the scene and asking if they planned to clean up their mess, Curnow said about five women surrounded her - one of them elderly, the others in their 20s or 30s - and 'egged each other on to hit me'.

She said she felt 'very intimated', which intensified as one of the group threatened to run her over in his car. She had been taking photos of its number plate to hand over to police, she said.

Curnow has since reported the group to police and said members of the public ended up clearing the area of the group's litter.

'It was nice how we all came together like that, united,' she said.

Her videos have been shared more than 5000 times and have gathered over 6000 comments on Facebook.

Several commenters claimed to have had their own unpleasant dealings with members of the group.

Inspector Kevin McNaughton of the Waitematā East Police said police were currently investigating the Sunday afternoon incident, working to identify those involved.

'Police will be speaking with those involved and will be referring them to Council with regard to their behaviour around the littering of rubbish,' he said.

'We pride ourselves in our clean, green image as a country and thank the members of the public who reported this behaviour on this occasion.'

If caught, they could be fined up to $400 for illegally dumping rubbish. Serious offenders can also be prosecuted under the Litter Act 1979 with a maximum penalty of $30,000.