Gun in library, trail bikes in cemetery prompts council bans

Guns, intravenous drugs, and offroad bikes in a graveyard may sound like the stuff of gangster films but these are true tales of bad behaviour reported at council facilities around New Zealand.

Major councils around the country have released lists of where, when, and why people have received bans from parks, stadiums, libraries, and pools over the past two years.

The list of shame includes petty crime – stealing a wallet or phone – through to the more serious.

Wellington City Council information showed 30 bans and trespasses issued in council facilities – from pools to libraries to Sky Stadium – ranging from two days for inappropriate behaviour at Newtown Library to two years for pitch invasions at the stadium.

At one Auckland library – in Mt Albert – a customer was spending so long in the toilet that staff said they would call police. Staff found a used syringe and what appeared to be morphine pills in the cubicle after he left.

That same month, Te Matariki Clendon Library in Auckland saw a visiting consultant apparently tussle with some boys with a gun.

‘‘Three boys were sitting nearby when suddenly the customer froze in panic, one of the boys said he was going to shoot her and pointed the gun at her.

‘‘[The consultant] walked up to the boy with the gun and after a small tussle, took the gun off the boy and told them to get out.’’

He gave the gun to a security guard, who caught up with two of the three boys and told them not to come back in. He did not ring police or get the boys’ names.

Auckland Council has also handed out a slew of two-year bans for incidents, including for indecent assault, abuse and fighting in pools or leisure centres.

A two-year ban was handed out in Auckland to someone who harassed female staff, via text message and in person at a pool.

Down the road at Hamilton, two off-road motorbike riders were trespassed in Hamilton East Cemetery and banned from Hamilton Gardens for three months for riding through the park during the level 4 lockdown in April.

Numerous trespass notices – ranging from one day to two years – were issued at Hamilton’s Waterworld for abuse and reckless behaviour.