'Unruly' tourists: Are they as 'respectable' as they claim?

Monday, 21 January 2019

The 'unruly' group of tourists attracted attention around New Zealand in 2019 (video first published January 2019).

It seems like day 103 of the 'unruly' tourist saga which has plagued New Zealand.

Although the troublesome group's reign of terror dates back to about six weeks ago, it's technically been just over a week since they first made headlines after leaving rubbish strewn across Takapuna Beach.

From there, it's been a whirlwind of rudeness, toast and shoe throwing, theft, and hill-hiding.

Despite Kiwi journalists tracing their steps across the country, the family have said little about themselves, their hopes, dreams - and when exactly they're leaving.

* Irish Community being 'unfairly blamed'

Police were called to Burger King in Te Rapa on Tuesday after reporter that a tourist family were causing trouble.

* Six weeks of strife: How a family angered a nation

* CCTV shows unruly travelling family taking Christmas tree

* Garlic naan and an abandoned pram: The curious case of the unruly travelling family**

But the things they have said have been, well, interesting….

We put their claims to the test:

THE MESS AT TAKAPUNA

After two videos were uploaded on Facebook of the family at Takapuna Beach, some members of the family spoke to media to share their side of the story.

One of the tourists, who said his name was 'John Johnson', told NZ Herald the ordeal began when his eight-year-old nephew was 'slapped' by another boy at the beach.

After that, they claimed they were abused, with people calling them 'Irish scum' and had items thrown at them. Feeling intimidated, they felt forced to leave and in doing so, inadvertently left their rubbish behind.

He said they didn't intend for that to happen but they wanted to escape the group of people they felt was 'circling them'.

The videos uploaded to Facebook show Johnson pushing a pram and walking alongside a woman. There are no people captured walking behind them, calling them names or 'circling them'.

In fact, the video shows the pair walking at a standard pace (not rushing or running) away from the beach, with 'John Johnson' glancing back behind him - perhaps looking at the rubbish or looking for people?

In the second video, beachgoers can be heard asking 'John Johnson': 'Are you going to leave that for us to clean up now?'

Another person says, 'you're a naughty little s… as well.' To which a young boy then appears on the scene saying, 'I'll knock your brains out'.

So were the tourist family slapped, abused and circled? From what we can tell in the 30-second clip, it doesn't appear that way. The most threatening language comes from the half-naked tourist child in a Bunnings hat.

However, it's plausible other interactions took place before the recording began.

The New Zealand Police told Stuff enquiries were ongoing into a number of reported incidents. But police would not confirm how many incidents were being looked into, and said it was not in a position to comment further on matters that are the subject of current investigations.

Police were first made aware of the group of overseas travellers in question on Monday January 14, and were also aware of various allegations in the media.

'WE ARE A RESPECTABLE FAMILY'

The old saying 'actions speak louder than words' springs to mind here.

The family have been accused of an awful lot condemnable actions during their time in New Zealand.

We'll admit, there are a lot of allegations from Kiwis accusing the family of doing and saying untoward things. But on the other hand, some of these things have been captured on video, including the young tourist boy threatening to knock the brains out of a woman.

Another member of the group, who said he was called 'David Johnson', stuck up for the boy's actions, telling the NZ Herald: 'All he did was speak up for himself and everybody's got every right to speak for themselves. It was absolutely ridiculous what happened, we are a respectable family'.

He also said the family couldn't clean up their rubbish at the beach because they were 'badly intimidated by a group of people'.

A member of the unruly travelling family makes her way into the Hamilton District Court before the appearance of another member of the group on theft charges.

Members of the family were also caught on CCTV stealing items, including a Christmas tree, from an Auckland Caltex.

As a result, Tina Maria Cash, 26, wound up in Hamilton District Court and pleaded guilty to two theft charges.

At the time Cash told police she did not remember taking the items but accepted that it was her caught on the store's CCTV system.

'John Johnson' also told Newshub that Cash didn't steal anything, despite pleading guilty in court.

If the family think they are indeed 'respectable', then good on them. But so far, they haven't shown their respectable nature to the New Zealand public.

In our country, saying you're 'respectable' while acting the complete opposite is a sure way to end up fronting a Tui ad.

THE 'GRANDFATHER'

'John Johnson' told media they had come from a good family and his grandfather was the '10th richest man in England'.

A simple Google search tells us the 10th richest man in England is in fact the Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family. Hugh Grosvenor became the seventh Duke of Westminster after his father Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor died in 2016.

Although Hugh Grosvenor is definitely wealthy, with a net worth of about £9.964 billion (NZ$19b), he was also born in 1991. Making him just 27 years old.

Now, most people would realise that's a little too young to be a grandfather. So perhaps 'John Johnson' was meaning Gerald Grosvenor?

Online, there's a lot on the Grosvenor family - including articles of them attending the royal wedding - however the Johnson or Cash name doesn't seem to be mentioned.

Looking at some of the tourists' Facebook friends also doesn't provide any insight into a connection with the Duke or the royals.

So are they related? We can't prove they're not. But if they were, why aren't they hanging out with Harry and Meghan instead of 'terrorising' New Zealand?

'WE'RE NOT IRISH'

The first report of the family causing a ruckus at Auckland's Takapuna Beach led media to believe the family were Irish. It later turned out they were British.

On Tuesday, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) began the process to deport the group.

INZ confirmed to Stuff that the five people who were issued deportation liability notices were travelling on British passports.

'David Johnson' also told the NZ Herald the family weren't gypsies, and were English citizens rather than Irish.

And British media reported that Tina Maria Cash had lived at a traveller site near Lutterworth, Leicestershire up until about 18 months ago.

INZ assistant general manager Peter Devoy said a deportation liability notice was the first stage in the deportation process and an individual has the right to appeal.

During this appeal period, the individual cannot be deported from the country, unless they agree to waive their appeal rights. Once an individual's appeal rights expire, INZ may serve the individual with a Deportation Order.

It's understood the family plan to leave the country this week.

More than 5000 people have also signed a petition on Change.org to have the unruly tourists deported from New Zealand.