A knuckle duster, a bong, a bottle of whiskey, knives, methamphetamine and 39 rounds of ammunition aren't on your standard checklist of items you need to take to court - but people tried in Tauranga.
Information released under the Official Information Act reveals items security officers have confiscated from visitorsto the Tauranga courthouse during the past year.
While there is clearly a need to search members of the public, a Bay of Plenty lawyer said it was "frustrating and degrading" for lawyers to have to go through the same process every day, something the Ministry of Justice said they can't avoid.
Despite the visible presence of security staff, a body scanner and a bag-scanning machine, people are still pushing their luck when it comes to smuggling banned items into the court.
There were 54 times between November 2020 and November last year when court security officers had to confiscate banned items in Tauranga.
Court security officers have powers to take items into temporary custody if they are deemed a potential weapon. They can be given back to the person when they leave the court.
If items are deemed illegal or a prohibited offensive weapon, the items can be seized and the person detained. The matter is then handed on to the police.
Tauranga defence lawyer Martin Hine, who works in both Rotorua and Tauranga courts, said it was "frankly astonishing" with the heightened scrutiny and security with the Covid-19 pandemic that people would persist in bringing illegal and inappropriate items to court.
"The drugs and paraphernalia are probably the same evidence of the entrenched nature of the issue that continues to blight our communities and impacts on the thought processes of those people caught up in its ravages. When you think of the high levels of violence that can be spawned by some of these drugs, it is not at all surprising that the thought processes around attending court are not clear."
He said lawyers often had people attending court who were intoxicated either from alcohol, cannabis or methamphetamine and confiscating these substances at the court doors helped minimise the risk to other court users.
As for the weapons seized this year, he said the list "beggars belief".
"It really just highlights the fact that courts remain a potential tinderbox of conflict – if not in court because we at least have the capacity to disarm, but often around the court precincts where only the police have jurisdiction to intercede."
He said court security did a great job and he was grateful for their efforts.
"Being a frontline worker in our current environment is courageous and a commitment to keeping our community safe."
Rotorua and Tauranga lawyer Martin Hine. Photo / Supplied
Tauranga defence lawyer Tony Balme said it was "mind-boggling" what some people thought was appropriate to bring to court.
"I turn up to court waiting for my clients and there's some hold-up as they're stuck in security because they've left cannabis in their pockets. It's that thoughtless, it's extraordinary really and it epitomises their casualness to things."
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty lawyer Rob Vigor Brown said screening was clearly needed for the general public but lawyers were officers of the court and shouldn't have to be screened each day.
"I can't see the reason for it and quite frankly I find it frustrating and degrading. It hacks me off when you go down there and I have to be searched when I'm an officer of the court."
Lawyer Rob Vigor Brown. Photo / NZME
He described the daily screening of lawyers when they were rushing to cases and back and forward to talk to clients in the cells as "beyond a joke".
"We work there day in and day out and, admittedly now we get priority to enter the court and don't have to stand in the queues to be screened, but it makes me want to give up law having to be searched every day ... We should be given unimpeded access to the court unless there is prior suspicion about our activities."
People have tried to take knuckle dusters to court. Photo / Getty Images
Ministry of Justice health, safety and security, corporate and digital services general manager Maeve Neilson said it had obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act to keep everyone who entered the courts safe.
"Security screening is completed to mitigate the risks associated with onsite violence that can occur within our courts. It is important to note that screening doesn't focus on the person, it focuses on items that may provide a risk."
Tauranga High/District Court
2020: Items seized
November 2: Pipe and drug paraphernalia November 4: Knife December 1: 39 rounds of ammunition December 3: Credit-card knife December 3: Bottle of whiskey December 7: Knuckle duster December 11: Two large knives December 18: Credit-card knife December 21: Pipe
2021: Items seized
January 12: Key knife January 25: Knife January 25: 50ml bottle of Famous Grouse whisky January 25: Cannabis pipe January 28: Cannabis grinder January 28: Credit-card knife January 28: Credit-card knife January 29: Glass meth pipe January 29: Two meth pipes and meth point bags January 29: Credit-card knife and foldout knife February 4: Used needles and syringes February 5: Cannabis pipe February 10: Large knife February 16: Meth pipe February 19: Meth pipe and meth residue in point bag March 3: Knife March 5: One round of .22 ammunition March 8: Curved blade and ammunition magazine March 10: Pipe March 10: Cannabis grinder and cannabis pipe March 12: Fold-out knife March 15: Meth pipe March 18: Meth pipe and meth point bags March 22: Meth pipe March 26: Cannabis and pipe April 9: Key knife April 15: Glass pipe April 20: Credit-card knife April 22: Knuckle duster April 22: Lock-blade knife May 6: Meth and pipe May 17: One round of ammunition June 10: Knuckle duster June 14: Six rounds of ammunition June 21: Credit-card knife July 23: Cannabis pipe July 28: Cannabis pipe August 9: Cannabis pipe August 13: Knuckle duster attached to belt September 10: Cannabis pipe September 24: Credit-card knife September 29: Credit-card knife October 6: Meth pipe and point bags October 28: Ammunition
