{"id":18049,"date":"2026-07-28T12:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18049"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T00:15:14","slug":"aussie-tourists-start-a-fight-after-man-urinates-in-public-waves-his-genitals-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18049","title":{"rendered":"Aussie tourists start a fight after man urinates in public, waves his genitals around"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two Aussie tourists took it upon themselves to get justice after seeing a man urinating and waving his genitals in front of their female friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nirvan Lane and Asher Ghannoum began fighting the unknown man outside a bar in Queenstown after one of the women they were travelling with took offence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But their bid for justice ended in the Queenstown District Court, with Lane pleading guilty to common assault and fighting in a public place, while Ghannoum was charged with assault with intent to injure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Judge Russell Walker said starting a fight was not a normal reaction to being offended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“They call the police. They don’t physically assault that person. It’s that simple,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The locals who live here in Queenstown are heartily sick of violence in the street after people have been drinking.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The group were partying in Queenstown on 23 July when one of the women in the group took offence to a man urinating in public right in front of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The man then waved his genitals around, causing further offence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The court heard Lane approached the victim and, without any warning, initiated a physical confrontation by punching him. A fight ensued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another member of the public saw the commotion and while attempting to break it up, he was punched by Lane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ghannoum saw the fight happening and jumped in, punching the victim then kicking the victim when he was on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lawyer DeAnne Nicoloso said the two convictions for Lane will “have a punitive effect on him”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 20-year-old is a full-time uni student studying commerce and cyber security in Sydney and working 20 hours a week at Bunnings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, Ghannoum is an electrical apprentice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“He is very remorseful.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The pair would be returning to Australia later in the week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Walker took into account the pair had no criminal history in New Zealand or Australia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lane was fined $750 and $152 in court costs for common assault and for fighting in a public place, he was convicted and discharged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ghannoum was fined $1250, with court costs of $250.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Violence, especially involving alcohol, is not a new problem in the tourist town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Earlier this year, 26-year-old Mattheus Heimer was sentenced to nine months’ supervision after he slapped a woman and pinned her down inside the local McDonald’s while he was on a drinking bender.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meanwhile, at the sentencing of Braden Jane, who assaulted a man outside an Arrowtown pub, Judge Mark Williams said there was too much alcohol-related violence in the tourist town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“There needs to be a message that violence in Queenstown will not be tolerated,” he said at the hearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Destination Queenstown Lake W\u0101naka Tourism chief executive Mat Woods said it was “disappointing to see international visitors come into our community and act violently”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Our hospitality sector works hard alongside Police, licensing authorities and the wider community to promote responsible behaviour and ensure the town remains a safe place for residents and visitors alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Queenstown Lakes is renowned as a safe and welcoming destination, hosting nearly three million visitors a year. The overall crime rate in the district remains below the national average and is declining year on year, making it an overwhelmingly safe place to live and visit.”<\/p>\n

Source: NZ Herald & RNZ<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Aussie tourists took it upon themselves to get justice after seeing a man urinating and waving his genitals in front of their female friends. Nirvan Lane and Asher Ghannoum began fighting the unknown man outside a bar in Queenstown after one of the women they were travelling with took offence. But their bid for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18050,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049\/revisions\/18050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}