Couple charged with assaulting holidaymakers

Police have charged a couple with assault in the Far North.

A Whangarei couple have been charged with assaulting two elderly holidaymakers on a remote road in the FarNorth.

Sergeant Storm Sandilands of the Whangarei police said the incident happened on September 9 on Gumfield Rd in Ahipara and yesterday charges were laid against a 27-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman.

The elderly couple had been visiting the Far North from Christchurch when they came across a Landcruiser four-wheel drive vehicle stopped in the middle of the road.

When they asked for the vehicle to be moved so they could pass by, the driver allegedly reversed the Landcruiser.

The southern couple had to reverse quickly to avoid a collision before they managed to get past and continue their journey.

Ms Sandilands said the elderly couple then took a wrong turn and were doubling back when the Landcruiser came round the corner on the wrong side of the road and clipped the rear of their rental vehicle.

The male driver of the damaged rental car then started to take pictures of the damage but the male driver of the Landcruiser allegedly tried to rip the camera out of his hands.

The woman then grabbed the camera and threw it onto the road and allegedly punched the elderly man in the chest twice.

The Christchurch couple managed to get the number of the Landcruiser, which was registered to a Whangarei couple.

Police have charged a man with two counts of assault and a woman with assault.