By SIMON HENDERY
The new lower drinking age has been blamed for a spate of incidents in which drunken teenagers caused mayhem across the city on Saturday night.
An under-strength Auckland police force was stretched to the limit during a horror two hours from 11 pm as it struggled to deal with more than 25 separate incidents of crowd disorder and out-of-control parties.
Inspector John Esdaile blamed the recently lowered legal drinking age of 18 for the flare-up.
"Obviously a great majority of those who were out there are simply not mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes with it."
Resources were stretched because three of the city's four team-policing units, which specialise in crowd control, had been sent to Waitangi for the weekend.
In one of the more serious callouts, 20 police, some in riot gear, fought with about 100 bottle-smashing partygoers at Wharf Rd on the outskirts of Albany.
Several people were arrested.
Apparently, tenants of a five-bedroom flat organised an "eviction party" knowing they would not be getting bond money back.
Neighbours in the semi-rural cul-de-sac woke to find glass and rubbish strewn along the street yesterday morning.
"We tend to batten down the hatches when they have a party," said one neighbour. "What else can you do?"
Police had just dispersed the Wharf St crowd when they were called to a serious assault at Birkdale, where a partygoer had been hit over the head with a bottle.
Several central-city skirmishes involved drunken revellers fighting in the street, among them a group of about 80 who spilled out of an Albert St nightclub.
Police also dealt with out-of-control suburban parties in Castor Bay, Glendene, Te Atatu and Remuera, all attended by young drinkers.
Rampage blamed on drink age drop
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