KEY POINTS:
A teenager was stabbed in the face with a broken bottle outside a Tauranga bar early today.
Acting Sergeant Matt Elliot said the attack happened on The Strand, across the road from Usual Suspects bar, about 2am.
The 18-year-old victim was taken to hospital with gashes to his face, and was later discharged.
There had been "a discussion" before the man was stabbed, but it was an unprovoked attack, Mr Elliot said.
An 18-year-old seasonal worker was set to appear at the Tauranga District Court charged with assault today.
Both men were from Tauranga.
Mr Elliot said the strip of bars and pubs where the man was attacked, had a problem with "alcohol-fuelled disorder", but the stabbing was at the top end of the scale.
Bar owners needed to be vigilant about keeping their customers under control, he said.
"They need to monitor the amount of intake that their patrons are having.
"Also people are getting grossly intoxicated and then just being put out onto The Strand in a foul mood after being evicted from a pub, and then everyone else is going about their general business trying to have a good night and then they're assaulted."
Police were sick of the behaviour, which they dealt with on a weekly basis, and would be coming down hard on anyone else who stepped out of line, Mr Elliot said.
- NZPA