Police armed with batons shut down an "out of control" St Patrick's Day party with over 100 people in Christchurch last night. Photo / George Heard
Police armed with batons shut down an out-of-control St Patrick's Day party with over 100 people in Christchurch last night.
Police were called to the party on Rattray St after reports of a rubbish fire at 10.20pm.
A reporter at the scene said there was well over 100 people at the property. Many of them were young and intoxicated.
A couch was also set alight but it was extinguished before fire crews arrived.
About eight police officers eventually moved in and shut down the party, the reporter said.
It comes after reports that University of Canterbury-owned Ilam Fields has become home to uncontrolled gatherings while Covid-19 has restricted the usual Orientation Week events.
Two weeks ago hundreds of students gathered at the fields for a toga party with reports of another large party last weekend.
Mattresses were thrown around, people urinated in bushes, and the field was reportedly left strewn with rubbish and broken glass.
And in Dunedin, two students were seriously injured as St Patrick's Day shenanigans spiralled out of control in the student quarter.
The Otago Daily Times reported at about 2pm a 19-year-old man fell from a second storey roof at a Castle St flat.
In another incident, about 4.30pm, a 22-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries by emergency services staff using a Stokes basket after a house party in Park St went awry.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said the man had fallen off an internal balcony and was unconscious for a time.
St John was also called to Brackens View, next to the Northern Cemetery, about 2pm, where about 200 students were gathered. It treated one person in a moderate condition.
The death is the first in this year's Christmas road toll.