Man cops farm visit for pig slur on police

By Kristin Edge
What's the difference between a pig and a police officer?
After a court-ordered trip to a pig farm, a Western Bay man has learned that a pig and a sworn member of the New Zealand Police have nothing at all in common.
In an unusual punishment, a 22-year-old man who called police "pig shit" was ordered by a judge to spend a day on a pig farm and then present a letter to Tauranga District Court this week about his agricultural learning experience.
He was liable for a maximum fine of $1000. He was instead discharged without conviction and because of this the Bay of Plenty Times has decided not to name him.
The man had been charged with using offensive language after he was nabbed while on a trip to Auckland on February 26 this year.
The man said he was a passenger in a car driven by his mate.
While on Vincent St in central Auckland, they drove past a group standing on the roadside at about 11.40pm, including six members of the police and five teenagers.
As the car slowed for traffic lights, the man leaned out the window and hurled abuse at the assembled police calling them "pig shit".
When he was stopped a short time later and spoken to by police, he explained he was having "a bad day".
At an earlier court appearance, the man was ordered to visit to a pig farm and then complete an essay about his trip.
This week he returned and presented Community Magistrate Robyn Paterson with a one-page handwritten letter.
"I was very very drunk," said the opening line.
He said he had no memory of the incident apart from waking up in an Auckland police station cell the next morning.
"I have stopped drinking because of what happened. I have wasted the police's time and my time."
He said he also had to take two days off work.
"One to go and see a pig farm and learn that there is nothing at all in common with a pig and a [sic] officer."
In his essay, the man stated he could not believe how two words could have cost him two whole days' wages - a total of $300 - and wasted so much of his and the court's time.
But he added the offensive words he did use could be found in the Oxford dictionary and were often used to describe police.