Late night brawls erupt in Hamilton’s nightclub area

Shocked late-night revellers watched as fights broke out in Hamilton’s bar area at the weekend.

Deearn Bell-Derikx, 20, who was in town for the end of O Week celebrations, witnessed the brawls as they spread along Victoria Street around 2.45am.

“There were around 12 fights; everywhere I looked there was a fight, police got involved and pretty much every bouncer was there.”

Liam Cross, 20, was also in town when everything kicked off.

“I had no idea what was happening, all I remember is that the cops were marching us all back.”

The first fight is understood to have started after a gang associate was kicked out of the Hood Bar. 

Inspector Karen Henrikson said a total of 42 arrests were made and she hadn’t seen an incident like this in Hamilton Central for years. 

She said there were no serious injuries and that the incident was unconnected with Waikato University’s O Week.