Schoolies: 19 of the craziest moments since the year 2000

SCHOOLIES is almost upon us again, so we take a look at the past 18 years, picking some of the craziest moments: catfights, seagull strangling, brawls, a flaming bum and so much more.

THIS year will be the 39th year of Schoolies and it seems everyone has a story. Here are 19 of the craziest moments involving school leavers in the prime of their lives, some strange, some hilarious, some embarrassing, some disgusting.

It’s not always the classiest event, but there are definitely some strange things that go on at Schoolies. Picture: Jason Edwards

2000

A TEENAGER’S fashion sense cost him $300 after studded belts he wore around his knee and ankle were found to be potentially dangerous weapons by a Southport magistrate.

The self-confessed Goth was found guilty under the Queensland Weapons Act after being arrested near the Surfers Paradise police post during Schoolies Festival. “I was discriminated against because of my dress. Goths don’t have a bad reputation for violence,” he said.

2001

A MINISTER was handcuffed, thrown into a paddy-wagon and locked in the watchhouse after preaching to schoolies in Cavill Mall. The Reverend Terrence O’Brien was accused of touting and faced two charges. A defiant Mr O’Brien was back in Cavill Mall the next night, doing what he had done for the past 10 Schoolies Festivals, “spreading the love message’’. “I will gladly spend a night in prison and pay their fines,” he said. “My dying breath will be spreading Jesus’s love.” And to be fair, if there’s any place people could use a little Jesus it’s definitely Schoolies.

Reverend Terrence O'Brien holding his Holy Bible after being arrested. Pic Michael Ross.

2002

SOME of the worst property damage happened during 2002. Schoolies flooded two floors of the Australis Sovereign hotel, vandalised cars and threw full drink can missiles from balconies. In the opening weekend, there were several knife attacks, a violent assault on two police officers and more than 50 arrests.

2003

A 17-YEAR-OLD girl was arrested and charged after she started a “catfight” with a girl she believed was trying to steal her boyfriend. The altercation started after Melanie spotted the pair canoodling in Cavill Mall and lost her temper, lashing out at the other girl. She said she was not sure if she would patch things up with Peter, who she had been dating for almost a year. “I was devastated. It was our first night at Schoolies,” she said.

Schoolies girls gone wild.

Days later, a young female schoolie was injured after a firecracker thrown from a high rise exploded under her leg. She was treated for bruises, abrasions and shock before being left to recover with friends.

2004

AN 18-year-old who found a one-metre carpet snake in the Gold Coast Hinterland took it to Schoolies. Police seized the snake but the young man tried to escape, only to be recaptured and charged with obstructing police and assault. Queensland Wildlife Service officers returned the python to the bush.

The young man was apprehended after walking around asking girls to touch the snake.

2005

THE Queensland Police Service was left red-faced after one of its employees was arrested for possessing a knife at the Schoolies Festival. The 17-year-old trainee police clerk from Brisbane was arrested after police responded to calls of a brawl involving a number of youths outside a surf club. When interviewed by detectives, the youth reportedly explained he was a QPS employee. Officers passed the information to the Police Ethical Standards Command, and a short time later his employment was terminated.

2005

A MAGISTRATE banned a schoolie from going to Surfers Paradise after he was arrested three times at the festival. The 17-year-old from Southport was ordered to stay away from Schoolies in Surfers Paradise after being arrested on three nights. “This big guy comes out of nowhere and I said ‘let’s go’ and I punched myself in the face,” he said. “I got arrested for punching myself.”

The youth seemed repentant … Pic Paul Riley

2006

A VARSITY Lakes labourer was charged with the assault of a Brisbane teenager, who was left battling life-threatening head injuries in Gold Coast Hospital.

The 17-year-old victim, from Herston, was placed in an induced coma in intensive care. Doctors described his condition at the time as critical. Police said the youth was struck twice in the face and fell limply backwards, hitting his head on the pavement. Doctors said he suffered damage and bleeding to the front and rear of his brain.

2007

PARENTS of Schoolies came under heavy criticism in 2007 for supplying their underage children with alcohol. One mum was fined $600 for supplying three cartons of “mixed spirits” to her son’s apartment.

2008

THE Gold Coast Bulletin introduced the “Pash Mat”, touted as a modern-day, portable mistletoe.

Posters promoted the pash mat, designed for schoolies who weren’t too sure what to do.

The promotional blurb said: “You stand on it instead of under it. It’s called the pash mat and it’s the perfect icebreaker for the start of Schoolies Festival. Free in today’s Weekend Bulletin, the pash mat takes the awkwardness out of first kisses, allowing schoolies to laugh off their inhibitions and step up to first base.”

Good times …

Yes, that’s a photo of people hooking up on the Pash Mat *insert face palm here*

2009

TOUTED as the “Grubbiest Schoolies ever”, reporter Ben Dillaway wrote of the festival in 2009: “They’re not stabbing, robbing or raping each other … just peeing in public, spewing in the street and drinking until they pass out.” Police labelled the year’s participants as “louts”, saying arrests were up more than 50 per cent from the previous year.

An all-girl brawl during Schoolies 2009. Stay classy y’all.

2010

THE first week of Schoolies went off without any huge grievances. The graduating class of 2010 was reported to be loud, at times rude and prone to drinking in public, but there were no sexual assaults, no grievous bodily harm, no permanent damage done to young bodies and thankfully no deaths. They were praised by authorities, organisers and locals as the best to hit the Glitter Strip in years – until the second weekend, when Schoolies went wild. In two days police arrested 19 schoolies for drugs, obstructing police and public nuisance and handed out 292 liquor infringement notices.

2011

A VIOLENT brawl erupted in Surfers Paradise one night only metres from the Queensland Police Commissioner as he toured the precinct. The fight between five schoolies broke out about 9.30pm at the entrance to the beach hub on The Esplanade. Within minutes four police vans and more than 20 officers swarmed the area. Four males and a female schoolie were taken away, as well as two bystanders who were in the way.

2012

A SCHOOLIE ruffled a few feathers when he grabbed a seagull by the neck and waved it around to show it off to his friends. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to animal cruelty when he appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court and was fined $1100. The NSW man was seen chasing and trying to catch seagulls, before diving on a flock and trapping one of the birds in his hands.

The seagull assailant has since given up a career in bird wrangling.

A court was told he had been running around holding the bird by its neck and waving it around before he was arrested. “I wasn’t expecting to catch it, it was quite a shock to me that I did,’’ he said. “Out of shock, out of absolute shock, I ran over to my friends to show them I actually caught one.” The bird survived and flew away.

2013

DESPITE a Schoolie falling to her death from a balcony the year before, one of the class of 2013 still decided to drink 15 beers and balcony jump 11 floors up. He said he jumped between balconies because his room only had one key and he needed to get in the room. He was charged with public nuisance and admitted it was an act of stupidity. This was also the year of a coffee cup bashing, in which a schoolie named Kate allegedly struck another named Izobel in the face with a ceramic mug. A photo of the girl’s bloodied face circulated on the internet. But in June the next year charges were dropped and the girl accused of wielding the cup claimed the victim just wanted “a bit of fame”.

Is this really the face of someone faking injury?

2014

TWENTY-SIX schoolies were arrested as a brawl broke out in Cavill Ave. Most arrests were for public nuisance and street offences. There were seven drug-related matters. The night before, a woman was attacked and her head slammed into a metal fence, leaving her shaken and bloodied. A man who tried to step in was also attacked.

2015

A SCHOOLIE with a hairy bum let a friend set his buttocks on fire in a hare-brained stunt that ended painfully. The 17-year-old had been drinking when a mate began singeing people’s hair with a lighter and aerosol can. As his rear end was torched he let out a piercing scream and required a trip to the Schoolies Festival medical tent.

A schoolie who wishes to be only known as 'Steve' with his burnt behind. Picture: Jerad Williams

2016

SCHOOLIES lined up to take pictures of a mate who was lying on the ground in agony after falling from a Surfers Paradise balcony one night. The 17-year-old Cairns school leaver fell from the second floor of an apartment building in Cypress Ave, smashing into a guardrail and slamming into the ground at 3am. It is believed he had been reaching for a packet of cigarette filters when he overbalanced over the railing and fell. He was taken to hospital and treated for a broken pelvis.

2017

A YOUTH was left bleeding from the ears after a horrific coward’s punch outside a Surfers Paradise nightclub. The attack was caught on camera and went viral, sickening viewers with its unnecessary violence.

The offender is now known as New Zealand man Caleb Maraku, who gained notoriety this year for laughing as he left courts with no jail time. However after a surge of public protest he was deported to New Zealand.

Caleb Maraku did not have the last laugh, here he is being deported.

What will happen in 2018? We’ll have to wait and see …