Stags "No go" in Tyneside - The party's over campaign

Northumbria's new Chief Constable Mike Craik yesterday announced his solution to curbing the drunken chaos which is a feature of many North-East town and city centres.
His force's 'The Party's Over' campaign will target badly-behaved revellers with a range of measures aimed at restoring some order to the streets on Friday and Saturday nights in particular.
More officers at potential trouble spots, naming and shaming offenders and an old fashioned 'quiet word' with groups as they arrive on Tyneside for hen and stag parties are among the plans.

Stag-night stunt sees brothers baring all on A64

Traffic warnings were yesterday broadcast to motorists to be on their guard for two naked men walking down the side of a dual carriageway in Yorkshire.
Instead of looking out for the normal traffic tailbacks on the A64, drivers were told to be on alert for the two hitchhikers displaying a little too much of their modesty.
Darren Williams and his brother, John, were eventually spared their blushes when a patrol car from North Yorkshire Police pulled over and shielded them from passing vehicles.
Darren had been on his stag night with his 21-year-old brother, who will be his best man at the wedding in five weeks, when they were wrestled to the ground by a group of friends and stripped naked in a lay-by near Tadcaster at 9.30am yesterday.
The friends then drove off, leaving the two brothers stranded at the roadside wearing only their socks and shoes.
After walking more than a mile down the side of the dual carriageway, officers in the police patrol car spotted the brothers baring all.
A passing motorist then stopped and gave them a lift home to Bolton-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire.
Darren, 23, a team leader for an internet company, said: "Rumours started flying around on Saturday that something like this was going to happen, but when we got back to the hotel I thought I had got away with it.
"I had taken precautions like putting money in my sock and I had a taxi firm number in my mobile telephone, but unfortunately they took that off me as well.
"As we were walking along, people were driving past sounding their car horns and waving at us. I have managed to see the funny side of it."
He had travelled to York with a group of 17 friends from the Dearne Valley Bulldogs rugby league side for the stag party around the city's pubs on Saturday.
After being stripped naked, the brothers had begun walking along the side of the A64 in the hope of finding a telephone before police officers arrived.
Darren, who will be flying out to Cyprus to marry Lisa Griffiths, 20, from Barnsley, next month, said: "The police were brilliant, they were laughing along with us.
"They were going to call a police van to take us back to York station so we could make a phone call, but then someone pulled over to give us a lift home. We are extremely grateful to them."
And his bride-to-be also managed to raise a smile when she heard of the ordeal.
She said: "We haven't cancelled any of the wedding invites after what happened, although I might be having a quiet word with some of those who are responsible."

Three men beat up fellow hotel guest after stag do

Three men beat up a fellow guest in a Penrith hotel after he complained about the noise they were making as they returned from a stag night, a court heard.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court said the men 'created absolute mayhem' when they got back to the Station Hotel at 4am on June 6 last year.

All three pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to James Davey.

Gordon Brown, 35, of Hamilton, Glasgow, and his brother Thomas, 30, of East Kilbride, were each ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mr Davey, £100 for the damage they caused to the hotel and £700 in court costs. They were also ordered to do 120 hours' unpaid community service.

Russell Eagleson, 45, of Aberdeen, was made to pay £500 compensation to Mr Davey and £700 in costs. He was ordered to do 80 hours' community service.

Judge Paul Batty QC described the incident as 'deplorable'.

He told the men: 'You created absolute mayhem in this hotel which had the misfortune to be housing you for that night. Each of you had been on a binge of drink and this was the result.'

He said although the incident warranted a prison sentence, it would be better if they were allowed to be with their families."

Evolution of the bachelor night

From this times article

Nowhere are these costs more blatant than in the choice of hen and stag nights. Once men were happy to drink themselves senseless within a one-mile radius of home, but now, with cheaper international flights, they do exactly the same thing abroad. “Stags scare the life out of me,” says Will, 34, a graphic designer. “It’s expensive but you can’t say no and everyone has to outdo one another. We’ve done Icelandand Dublin; and Amsterdam is so five years ago.” Next month he’s off to Bratislava. It was that or paint-balling in Lithuania.

Meanwhile, the stakes for hens are even higher because brides-to-be can be much more obsessed with status and fashion. The days of circling a handbag with a tumbler of tequila to I Will Survive are over, and recent Mintel figures indicate that exotic locations are replacing European cities — Cancún in Mexico and Las Vegas are becoming more popular. So hens can count themselves lucky to get away with a three-night tour of the cava bars of Barcelona or shopping in New York for a weekend. Will’s girlfriend Gina, 32, has just been persuaded to take part in Go Ape! — a “treetop challenge” involving rope crossings and Tarzan swings in darkest Berkshire. “I can’t think of anything I’d like to do less,” she moans.

I can. Organising a hen night for a perfectionist friend who makes the Desperate Housewives character Bree Van De Kamp look like a slob.

“She wanted the quintessential chocolate box weekend in an English country cottage and I had to organise it,” recalls Fiona, a 32-year-old lawyer. “It was like taking on a part-time job, one with a very demanding boss.”

Limousine Dangers for stas or hens

The fashion of hiring limousines for stag, hen or children's parties has unleashed potential dangers, warn police.]

Officers in Swansea uncovered the issue by staging a one-day joint operation with vehicle inspectors and local authority licensing officers, which targeted limousines as well as minibuses.
South Wales Police said the results were 'concerning'.

During the operation 12 limousines were stopped and examined. Only half passed safety and licensing checks. Four vehicles were found to have such serious defects they were immediately taken off the road and two others were issued with delayed prohibitions subject to work being carried out. The vehicles failed on various grounds, including sub-standard manoeuvrability and using non-approved tyres.

Stretch limousines are now often hired out by teenagers celebrating end-of-term 'prom' parties or to celebrate exam success. They are also popular with groups of men and women on stag or hen parties.

One of the minibuses checked was found to have 17 young people on board with only 14 seatbelts.
Pc Simon Chaplin, who led the operation, said yesterday, 'While the majority of the limo and minibus agencies in Swansea are operating legally and treating public safety seriously, the results of this operation show that some limousines in the Swansea area are not up to standard. Public safety is the first priority for any limo and minibus services and the standards should be followed strictly. He said illegal limos would be kept off the road."

Strippers steal "B-grade" Kiwi celebrity's money

"New Idea's Las Vegas wedding story comes courtesy of Paul Reid. Don't act like you don't know who Paul is. He's Marshall from Shortland Street. And front man for Kiwi rock band Rubicon.

Anyway, he's outdone Britney by marrying his fiancee, fellow ex-Shortland Street actor Rhiannon Cole, in a helicopter flying over Vegas.
But Paul almost didn't make it to the alter. He's been arrested for drunk-driving and resisting arrest since moving to LA, and his stag night went horribly wrong when he almost stabbed a friend with a kitchen knife and a group of 'hideous' strippers stole all his money.
Top effort, Paul. Weddings don't get much more scandalous than that. Keep this up and you'll move past your B-grade celebrity status in no time. "