NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Joke goes sour for embarrassed pranksters

Morgan Tait
By Morgan Tait
Reporter·NZ Herald·
30 Jan, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Flatmates Kurt and Rachel sparked an armed police callout with their prank.
Flatmates Kurt and Rachel sparked an armed police callout with their prank.

Flatmates Kurt and Rachel sparked an armed police callout with their prank.

'We understand we did a stupid thing, but just didn't know it would turn into this'

The masked pair that spooked a young film crew in an Auckland park say they had no idea their lunchtime prank had sparked an armed police call out.

Aucklanders Kurt and Rachel, who are too scared of retribution to use their last names, only found out the prank - where they appear near train tracks wearing masks and wielding a plastic gun - had gone viral when they saw news reports on Thursday.

Kurt, 27, said he and his 26-year-old flatmate Rachel were having lunch in their Parnell backyard on Tuesday when they saw people near the train tracks.

"We were just having lunch and we saw the boys on the train tracks and thought, 'they are not supposed to be on the tracks, so let's scare them'.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We had some old masks lying around from Halloween and a plastic gun that shoots those little rubber darts and were just having a laugh.

"They were laughing, too."

Unbeknown to Kurt and Rachel, the young men - who happened to be film students working in the area - recorded the incident on film and reported it to police who responded by sending the armed offenders squad into the area.

It wasn't until the footage went viral on Thursday that the pair realised their joke might not be so funny.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's a bit crazy, as soon as we saw it we thought, we better call the cops because this is ridiculous.

"We are not psychokillers ... people thought we were murderers or drug dealers, but the masks are from the $2 shop.

"So we understand we did a stupid thing, but just didn't know it would turn into this."

They were embarrassed and wanted people to know they had no malicious intent, and never meant to cause a problem for authorities.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Masked duo hand themselves in

29 Jan 01:24 AM
New Zealand|crime

Masked couple may face charges

30 Jan 01:25 AM

He said the pair had received threats and deactivated their social media accounts, including one named Twins of Atticus, which was a private joke invented by the pair who live in attic bedrooms and share a love of movies.

"We are film buffs, we are massive film buffs and understand we are a bit quirky. We go on [the Facebook page] once in a blue moon and post a photo or something, it's just because we live in an attic - she lives in one room and I live in the other.

"It was just meant to be a funny thing, they have made it look so much more sinister.

"I think it was more our posture that was scary, because we were just in T-shirts and shorts and I've got chicken legs - I had my jandals on!"

Kurt said they were lucky police took no action against them, but they still had to face the wrath of their families.

"The thing I am scared most of is my mum, and she's disappointed in me and that's what hurts the most."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Watching the bar cameras': How coastguard raised the alarm

15 Jun 07:57 PM
New Zealand|crimeUpdated

'Priority from day one': Police push for body cameras

15 Jun 07:50 PM
Herald NOW

Herald NOW: 2degrees business 16 June 2025

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Major banks halt over-counter deposits into others' accounts
Business

Major banks halt over-counter deposits into others' accounts

15 Jun 07:37 PM
‘Sorry mate’: Lawson forced out of Canadian Grand Prix
Formula 1

‘Sorry mate’: Lawson forced out of Canadian Grand Prix

15 Jun 07:36 PM
Israel pounds Iran in deepest strikes yet, Trump vetoes plan to kill supreme leader
World

Israel pounds Iran in deepest strikes yet, Trump vetoes plan to kill supreme leader

15 Jun 07:35 PM
Manhunt intensifies US lawmaker killed in ‘politically motivated attack’
World

Manhunt intensifies US lawmaker killed in ‘politically motivated attack’

15 Jun 07:25 PM
Liam Lawson forced to retire from Canadian Grand Prix
Formula 1

Liam Lawson forced to retire from Canadian Grand Prix

15 Jun 07:22 PM

Latest from New Zealand

'Priority from day one': Police push for body cameras

'Priority from day one': Police push for body cameras

15 Jun 07:50 PM

The Police Association supports cameras but worries about costs.

Herald NOW: 2degrees business 16 June 2025

Herald NOW: 2degrees business 16 June 2025

Auckland Council approves 4000 new homes on floodplains since 2023

Auckland Council approves 4000 new homes on floodplains since 2023

Could NZ police soon be wearing body cameras?

Could NZ police soon be wearing body cameras?

How one volunteer makes people feel seen
sponsored

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search