Pressure on police over liquor ban in holiday season

Police enforcing liquor bans over the holiday period could be forced to take thousands of samples of confiscated alcohol and analyse them if they want to make prosecutions stick.

A loophole in the law was exposed in a Havelock North court case when a charge was dropped against taxi-driver Rex Jones.

His lawyer argued at a hearing that police had not analysed the contents of a bottle a passenger in Jones' car was carrying and could not prove it was liquor.

But police are playing down the situation, saying nothing will change other than staff being reminded of the need to seize samples for exhibits from people charged with breaching liquor bans.

Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall said police would continue to use discretion in enforcing liquor bans.

Other than being more vigilant in seizing alcohol as potential exhibits in prosecutions, the police procedures would remain the same.

"If police do incur costs of analysis of samples, we will be seeking to recover the costs of such analysis if the person defending the matter is convicted by the court," Mr Marshall said.

But the reality could prove a logistical nightmare for police based on prosecution levels of previous years.

A record 714 people were charged with breaching the liquor ban in Waihi and Whangamata last year.

Nationally, the Ministry of Justice collections unit gathered $375,315 from 1046 people fined or handed down court costs for breaching liquor bans between December 19 and January 15 last summer.

Police spokesman Jon Neilson said the need to seize alcohol for potential prosecutions was being made clear to staff, saying it simply meant officers would have to seize one can of beer from a dozen or similar. "It's something that is part of the law that we are going to have to be doing."

Tauranga City Council environmental monitoring manager James Jefferson said there was little councils could do because it was a legislative matter.

"It raises some serious operational implications for police," he said.

Thames Coromandel District Council spokesman Peter Hazael said liquor bans would start across the Coromandel tomorrow.

"Hundreds of people are arrested every year, particularly in Whangamata and Pauanui. Obviously it's the police that will make the arrests and if this is a precedent they'll have to be careful about how they do it."