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Home / New Zealand

'Rude gesture' sparked brawls, arrests

Morgan Tait
By Morgan Tait
Reporter·NZ Herald·
20 Aug, 2015 04:08 AM3 mins to read

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In late July, mayhem broke out at Orakei train station when about 60 students from St Paul's College and De La Salle College met to fight over the image posted on Facebook. Photo / Ryan Agate

In late July, mayhem broke out at Orakei train station when about 60 students from St Paul's College and De La Salle College met to fight over the image posted on Facebook. Photo / Ryan Agate

A photo of a student giving a "rude gesture" to an opposing school's rugby jersey has sparked one large-scale organised brawl, three attempted brawls and two arrests.

On Tuesday, police rushed to three separate train stations across Auckland where students from three schools had arranged to meet for fights, sparked largely by Facebook posts and messages.

In late July, mayhem broke out at Orakei train station when about 60 students from St Paul's College and De La Salle College met to fight over the image that was posted on Facebook.

READ MORE: Brawl at Orakei Train Station delays trains

The brawl, that kicked off about 4pm, delayed trains at a busy commuter time and frightened bystanders.

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Auckland City Police arrested two students and charged them with assault. Aged 17- and 18-years-old, the students are being processed through the criminal court and may end up with criminal records.

Tensions between some students at the schools have continued to build after the fight and a third school has been pulled into melee, which started over a photo of one school's rugby jersey being given a "rude gesture" by a student from a rival school.

Inspector Vaughn Graham said police were taking a hard line with those involved.

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"These young people are making a bit of an effort to get together to assault each other and they think it is okay in public places, which we are against and we are not going to let it happen," he said.

"The day before yesterday police had to send staff to three different places because there was going to be fights on the platforms."

Officers arrived to find students in the area "who were not there to catch trains".

Mr Graham said officers were still examining CCTV footage and online activity from all four incidents, and working closely with schools to diffuse tensions.

Discover more

New Zealand

Man defies police to pick people up

20 Aug 04:21 AM

He said the schools involved had also handed down internal punishments to some students involved, too.

The schools have not responded to the Herald's requests for comment.

Mr Graham said Auckland Transport and Transdev Auckland, which operates the rail network, was also taking a tough line and would trespass anyone threatening the safety of other train users.

He encouraged parents to step in and talk to their children about online behaviour and the consequences of such actions.

"Someone made a rude gesture to a ruby jersey online, which is ridiculous when you think about what has happened to these young guys.

"The sad thing for these kids is they thought it was something worth fighting for, but I think they are likely to have a completely different opinion of that in five or 10-years time if they end up having a conviction, that's a serious price to pay."

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