Get tough on student rioters, Otago mayor tells police

One of the 80 people arrested in the Undie 500 riots is dragged away from Castle St. Photo / Otago Daily Times

The mayor of Dunedin wants students involved in weekend riots to be punished without regard for their future careers.

The arrival of the "Undie 500" pub crawl from Christchurch again brought a weekend of trouble, bottle-throwing and baton-charges to the streets of north Dunedin.

Mayor Peter Chin said the 80 people - most University of Otago students - who were arrested over two nights should be dealt with "appropriately" by police and the judicial system.

"If a few potential careers are wrecked, so be it," he said. "There may be some parents who are going to be to be feeling very sorry for themselves and their children."

Police had already said offenders would not escape convictions by being offered diversion, and Mr Chin said police now needed to "walk the talk".

Hopes of a better-behaved weekend were dashed on Friday night, when police made about 20 arrests after hundreds of young students gathering on Castle St - one of the city's main student areas - set fires, pelted police with bottles and ripped up trees.

Trouble returned in force early on Sunday, when a gathering of 600 people, mainly students, became violent shortly after midnight.

Area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said police wearing protective equipment and armed with batons and pepper-spray took more than an hour to clear the street.

"Many students were pepper-sprayed when they challenged the police line and officers had to call for more supplies as some had emptied their canisters."

Carl Shrimpton, president of event organiser the Canterbury University Engineering Society, said the weekend's events were disappointing, but efforts to encourage good behaviour had worked for University of Canterbury students entering the rally.

He rejected calls for the Undie 500 to be banned, saying any decision would be made only after a debrief involving police.

He believed a ban would drive the event underground, as happened last year.

University of Otago vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg said the weekend's events were "extremely disappointing", and the Undie 500 "must not occur again".

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES