Unruly travelling family checks out of Hamilton hotel
Thursday, 17 January 2019
Hamilton's motel strip is the last known whereabouts of an unruly family facing deportation.
Rubbish strewn across the park at Takapuna Beach - and threats against those who pointed it out - first brought the family to public attention.
A series of incidents at cafes and shops, followed, along with deportation liability notices and a court appearance in Hamilton.
Reports were that the group, believed to be from Liverpool, England, spent Wednesday night at Hamilton's Alcamo Hotel.
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When Stuff called, the person who answered said the group had checked out, and they were under strict instructions from management not to say anything more.
None of the hotel guests spoken to by Stuff recalled seeing the family or hearing any disturbance.
The first headlines about the family told of how they left beer boxes, bottles and baby wipes spread through a park at Takapuna Beach on Sunday afternoon.
Krista Curnow asked the group to clean up before leaving, and filmed her interaction with a furious-sounding young boy in an oversized straw hat.
Curnow said she felt intimidated by the group, as about five women 'egged each other on to hit me' and a man threatened to run her over because she had been taking photos of his number plate to give to police.
Visitors and staff at an Auckland hotel and cafe later reported the family being rude and 'ready to fight'.
By Tuesday, the family was in Hamilton.
Their overnight stay at Le Grand Hotel in Victoria Street passed without incident, according to a spokesman.
However, a woman in the group was arrested at Te Rapa Burger King that afternoon, and Immigration New Zealand served Deportation Liability Notices on 'individuals involved in the incident'.
Those notices kick off the deportation process.
They can be appealed, or a person can leave the country of their own accord before the notice period.
The family had a second brush with police later on Tuesday, as two young children in their car didn't have the right car seats.
Police took the family to the Warehouse to buy appropriate restraints.
The woman who was arrested, Tina Maria Cash, 26, spent Tuesday night in Hamilton's police cells.
She appeared in Hamilton District Court on Wednesday, and plead guilty to two theft charges.
She was to pay $55.20 for the Red Bull, sunglasses and rope she stole from the Caltex at Albany - on December 31 and January 4 - by 4pm the same day.
She is in the country on a six-month travelling visa.
Members of her family arrived at court on Wednesday morning, shielding their faces from waiting media.
One of the members later hit a Stuff journalist with her shoe after she was approached for comment.
Others sped off in their car when spotted outside the Hamilton Police Station.
The family was initially said to be Irish, but it is now believe they are from Liverpool, England.
New Zealand's Irish community is feeling unfairly blamed, Honorary Consul-General for Ireland in New Zealand Niamh McMahon said.
'When it started, we were getting commentary about people being embarrassed, and shocked at their carry on. But then as the story unfolded, we've had a large leap in the assumption that they're Irish, when in reality they're not at all,' she said.