Bongs removed by university proctor

They thought they had been robbed, but a flat of Dunedin Scarfies soon discovered their university’s proctor had taken their bongs.

The incident happened on Leith St, in the heart of Dunedin’s student quarter, earlier this month.

All but one of the flatmates, who was asleep upstairs, were out of the flat when University of Otago proctor Dave Scott visited, student magazine Critic reports.

Scott was there to drop off pamphlets about initiations, and let himself in through an unlocked backdoor, the flatmates said. He left, but took several water bongs used for smoking cannabis, worth about $400.

‘‘We thought someone had stolen them, but then we thought that if anyone had done it around Castle/Leith someone would recognise our pipes as they are well known,’’ one flatmate told Critic. All was revealed the next day when the proctor told them he had confiscated the bongs and would not report the matter to police – providing they cleaned up their flat.

It is legal to possess and sell bongs in New Zealand for smoking tobacco. The flatmates’

‘‘We thought that if anyone had done it around Castle/Leith someone would recognise our pipes as they are well known.’’

items were never returned.

A university spokeswoman told Critic the proctor was comfortable with the actions he had taken. ‘‘The proctor spoke to the male occupants in the flat and made them aware of the action that was taken, with the flat occupants acknowledging the equipment had been used to smoke cannabis. The bongs all contained cannabis residue and have been disposed of,’’ she told the student magazine.

Scott, a former police officer, also hit headlines earlier this year when it was revealed Campus Watch had removed hundreds of copies of the student magazine, which featured a cartoon of a person menstruating on the cover.

The Press has approached the university for comment.