Foul-mouthed non-students dominate Paddy's Day arrests

Out-of-towners and ''non-students'' ran afoul of Dunedin police on Sunday when the city's student population partied all day for St Patrick's Day.

In recent years, the annual student-led celebrations have been called out for causing chaos and carnage.

This year, of seven St Patrick's Day-related arrests, only one was a student.

Most of the arrests were young people abusing police, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said.

Arrests started early yesterday morning.

At 7.45am, a 19-year-old builder - a ''non-student'' - was arrested in Leith Street and charged with disorderly behaviour, Bond said.

At 8.10am, in Leith Street a 19-year-old female was arrested and charged with intentional damage and assault.

She too was a non-student, from Invercargill, who had come to Dunedin to party on St Patrick's Day.

At 11am, two 19-year-old males were arrested and charged with offensive language.

One was a student and the other was not, Bond said.

At 2.25pm, at Bracken's Lookout, near the Northern Cemetery, a 19-year-old male shearer from the North Island, "down for the day", was arrested for offensive language.

At 7.30pm, last night, a 21-year-old male and a 20-year-old male were stopped as they were ''throwing around a rubbish bin'' in Dundas Street, North Dunedin.

When police spoke to the pair they became aggressive and argumentative and both were arrested - ''again non-students'', Bond said.

The student flat picked to be party HQ yesterday, the Lakehouse complex, was a well-behaved gathering of at most about 1500 people, Bond said.

There were no arrests at the party.

Noise control was called about 11pm and the music was turned off at midnight, he said.

Bond said at previous student gatherings, Flo-week and O-week, this year most young people who police encountered wanted a photo with officers.

The abusive attitude towards police on St Patrick's Day had been unusual, he said.

This story was originally published by the Otago Daily Times.