Drunks nabbed in trans-Tasman crackdown

A trans-Tasman crackdown on alcohol-fuelled behaviour during one of the busiest
party weekends of the year has resulted in thousands of arrests and a jailhouse
attack.
Officers hit the streets from Friday evening until early Sunday morning as part of
Operation Unite in anticipation of pre-Christmas celebrations and an increase of pub
and nightclub activity.
In NSW, there were 640 arrests and 1,025 charges, 374 of them for drink driving.
Other charges included drug possession, affray and assault.
Constable Daniel Lynch, 26, was allegedly king hit by a 38-year-old who he arrested
on Friday in Sydney's northwest suburb of Eastwood for assaulting a nightclub
patron.
He told reporters the man had been friendly once placed in the cells at Ryde Police
Station, but he unexpectedly "just snapped".
"All of a sudden he's hit me with his hand ... I didn't see it coming, it was that
quick," he said on Sunday.
"I felt my nose running ... the pain was excruciating ... my neck was just killing
me from the jolt."
Notable incidents in Sydney on Saturday night included several brawls, a naked man
allegedly attempting to strangle his partner at The Rocks and a serious glassing in
Ultimo.
In Victoria, officers flooded major entertainment areas across the state and
arrested 204 people for public drunkenness during the weekend operation.
A further 51 people were issued with banning notices for anti-social behaviour,
prohibiting them from returning to Melbourne's CBD for 48 hours.
An extra 1,800 officers hit Queensland's streets and made 932 arrests and charged
193 people with drink driving.
In Western Australia, about 180 people were arrested and a 26-year-old man was
charged for allegedly stabbing another man outside a kebab shop.
A police spokeswoman said a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the arm and chest during
a fight about 3am on Victoria Street in Bunbury, 180km south of Perth.
South Australia saw 123 arrests during the two-day operation, 85 of them related to
alcohol.
Forty-five people were arrested made in the ACT, some for being drunk and disorderly
in Canberra's main entertainment areas and others for assault.
The Northern Territory saw relatively peaceful behaviour over the two days with just
seven people arrested on Saturday night for alcohol and drug offences.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand reported at least 136 arrests in major population
centres.
Each year, New Zealand police take 21,000 drunk people home or to the cells because
they cannot remember where they live.