Holidaymakers from hell: New Zealand’s "unruly tourists" who, following a series of events and a court appearance, gained national attention.
The leader of the unruly British travelling group who caused mayhem around the North Island three summers ago - and then fled NZ using someone else's passport - has died.
Relatives in the United Kingdom have posted tributes on social media to James Anthony Nolan, who was the leader of the controversial travelling group that holidayed in New Zealand.
Family member Lulu Mary Nolan paid tribute to James in a social media post, saying his death hadn't sunk in.
"My big lovely brother Jimmy Nolan as much as we always had argument been there all my life loved him like a big brother best daddy to his big lovely children and best husband to my sister."
After making their first notorious public appearance at a popular beach shortly after their arrival, the group dominated the headlines for several days.
On January 13, 2019, the tourist family showed up at Takapuna Beach to enjoy a day out, but as they were leaving they left behind a hefty amount of rubbish on the reserve.
The British family's holiday was cut short after they were served with a deportation notice in 2019. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The family at the time had claimed to be Irish, a local said, but it was later established they are English.
Disgruntled beachgoers had challenged the family and asked them to pick up their rubbish, but the tourists allegedly turned violent and threatened to punch locals in the face.
Witness Krista Curnow had told the Herald the family of tourists surrounded her and shouted abuse while footage from the incident shows a young boy shouting: "I'll knock your brains out."
"The young boy in the video came up to our group and emptied his bag of chips on our blanket, before laughing and ran away," she said.
"We asked them if the were going to pick up their rubbish and they said they weren't coming back. So I followed them and I said 'hey don't come to our country and disrespect it like that way'.
"Their response was basically if we have a problem then we can pick it up and that that's what the council is for.
"That's when they started getting quite violent. About four or five ladies stood around me in a half circle. They were saying they were going to hit me and I started walking backwards to get out of it.
"They turned violent and even grandma and the child got involved saying they wanted to punch my head in."
Infamous unruly tourist family was accused of bad behaviour, now a man linked to them has passed away. Photo / Christine Cornege
The tourist family had spoken exclusively to the Herald, counter-claiming one of their children was assaulted at the beach and they denied fleeing restaurants without paying for their meals.
John Johnson, his brother, David, as well as their partners and children, including a young baby, and mother Eileen Doran, of Liverpool, and father, said the social media furore which kicked off due to rubbish left on the beach had cut short their holiday and they would be returning home a week earlier than planned.
However, Immigration NZ confirmed the group were issued with a deportation notice.
James Nolan has passed away in England. Photo / Supplied
In February 2019, James Nolan fled the country using someone else's passport.
Nolan had a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear in court over the past few weeks.
He faced allegations of fraud, assault with a weapon and reckless driving.
Customs said they had robust procedures and systems in place to protect our borders, but acknowledged that Nolan had managed to get through on false pretences.
"James Nolan deliberately circumvented border controls by using a valid passport that was not his own.
"He used an eGate, which uses biometric data to match and confirm the identity of a passenger. The eGate identified further checks were needed on the passport.
"The image was automatically sent to a Customs officer, who incorrectly identified Nolan as the passport owner.
"Unfortunately, that was a case of human error, which shouldn't have occurred."
Customs officials had since launched a review into its processes that led to the incident and said they were taking the breach seriously.
"Staff are being reminded of the importance of visual checks and validating the identity of all travellers.''
Last year, New Zealand Opera had also decided to make a show on the "unruly tourists" to portray the group's infamous campaign, as it reportedly stole, littered and verbally abused its way through the North Island in 2019.
