The courthouse in Tauranga. Photo / NZME
A knuckle duster, a bong, a bottle of whiskey, knives, methamphetamine and 39 rounds of ammunition aren't on your standard checklist of items you need to take to court - but people tried in Tauranga.
Information released under the Official Information Act reveals items security officers have confiscated from visitors to the Tauranga courthouse during the past year.
While there is clearly a need to search members of the public, a Bay of Plenty lawyer said it was "frustrating and degrading" for lawyers to have to go through the same process every day, something the Ministry of Justice said they can't avoid.
Despite the visible presence of security staff, a body scanner and a bag-scanning machine, people are still pushing their luck when it comes to smuggling banned items into the court.
There were 54 times between November 2020 and November last year when court security officers had to confiscate banned items in Tauranga.
Court security officers have powers to take items into temporary custody if they are deemed a potential weapon. They can be given back to the person when they leave the court.
If items are deemed illegal or a prohibited offensive weapon, the items can be seized and the person detained. The matter is then handed on to the police.
Tauranga defence lawyer Martin Hine, who works in both Rotorua and Tauranga courts, said it was "frankly astonishing" with the heightened scrutiny and security with the Covid-19 pandemic that people would persist in bringing illegal and inappropriate items to court.
"The drugs and paraphernalia are probably the same evidence of the entrenched nature of the issue that continues to blight our communities and impacts on the thought processes of those people caught up in its ravages. When you think of the high levels of violence that can be spawned by some of these drugs, it is not at all surprising that the thought processes around attending court are not clear."
He said lawyers often had people attending court who were intoxicated either from alcohol, cannabis or methamphetamine and confiscating these substances at the court doors helped minimise the risk to other court users.
As for the weapons seized this year, he said the list "beggars belief".
"It really just highlights the fact that courts remain a potential tinderbox of conflict – if not in court because we at least have the capacity to disarm, but often around the court precincts where only the police have jurisdiction to intercede."
He said court security did a great job and he was grateful for their efforts.
"Being a frontline worker in our current environment is courageous and a commitment to keeping our community safe."
Tauranga defence lawyer Tony Balme said it was "mind-boggling" what some people thought was appropriate to bring to court.
"I turn up to court waiting for my clients and there's some hold-up as they're stuck in security because they've left cannabis in their pockets. It's that thoughtless, it's extraordinary really and it epitomises their casualness to things."
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty lawyer Rob Vigor Brown said screening was clearly needed for the general public but lawyers were officers of the court and shouldn't have to be screened each day.
"I can't see the reason for it and quite frankly I find it frustrating and degrading. It hacks me off when you go down there and I have to be searched when I'm an officer of the court."
He described the daily screening of lawyers when they were rushing to cases and back and forward to talk to clients in the cells as "beyond a joke".
"We work there day in and day out and, admittedly now we get priority to enter the court and don't have to stand in the queues to be screened, but it makes me want to give up law having to be searched every day ... We should be given unimpeded access to the court unless there is prior suspicion about our activities."
Ministry of Justice health, safety and security, corporate and digital services general manager Maeve Neilson said it had obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act to keep everyone who entered the courts safe.
"Security screening is completed to mitigate the risks associated with onsite violence that can occur within our courts. It is important to note that screening doesn't focus on the person, it focuses on items that may provide a risk."
2020: Items seized
November 2: Pipe and drug paraphernalia
November 4: Knife
December 1: 39 rounds of ammunition
December 3: Credit-card knife
December 3: Bottle of whiskey
December 7: Knuckle duster
December 11: Two large knives
December 18: Credit-card knife
December 21: Pipe
2021: Items seized
January 12: Key knife
January 25: Knife
January 25: 50ml bottle of Famous Grouse whisky
January 25: Cannabis pipe
January 28: Cannabis grinder
January 28: Credit-card knife
January 28: Credit-card knife
January 29: Glass meth pipe
January 29: Two meth pipes and meth point bags
January 29: Credit-card knife and foldout knife
February 4: Used needles and syringes
February 5: Cannabis pipe
February 10: Large knife
February 16: Meth pipe
February 19: Meth pipe and meth residue in point bag
March 3: Knife
March 5: One round of .22 ammunition
March 8: Curved blade and ammunition magazine
March 10: Pipe
March 10: Cannabis grinder and cannabis pipe
March 12: Fold-out knife
March 15: Meth pipe
March 18: Meth pipe and meth point bags
March 22: Meth pipe
March 26: Cannabis and pipe
April 9: Key knife
April 15: Glass pipe
April 20: Credit-card knife
April 22: Knuckle duster
April 22: Lock-blade knife
May 6: Meth and pipe
May 17: One round of ammunition
June 10: Knuckle duster
June 14: Six rounds of ammunition
June 21: Credit-card knife
July 23: Cannabis pipe
July 28: Cannabis pipe
August 9: Cannabis pipe
August 13: Knuckle duster attached to belt
September 10: Cannabis pipe
September 24: Credit-card knife
September 29: Credit-card knife
October 6: Meth pipe and point bags
October 28: Ammunition
'It’s an expensive asset, and it should be well-used.'