Best man pepper-sprayed after finding out pole dancers he'd hired for stag do weren't strippers

A best man who lost control when hired entertainers pole danced instead of stripping had to be pepper-sprayed during a stag do, Queenstown District Court in New Zealand was told on Monday. Jeremy David Garden, 25, a mechanic, appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips for intentionally damaging a glass at the Hawea Hotel and resisting police, on November 8.

He was fined $600. Sergeant Ian Collin said Garden was at the hotel for a stag do and as part of his best man duties he hired female entertainers, women he believed were strippers. When the entertainers arrived he was told they were pole dancers, but he thought it was to be more than dancing and became enraged, the court was told.



The women and a minder retreated to a car and Garden threw a glass of beer at them. Judge Phillips said Garden lost control because he was so intoxicated. Abuse of alcohol was clearly a factor and he ordered immediate payment of the fines before he was allowed to return to Australia.

Lawyer Tim Cadogan said his client, originally from Alexandra, lived in Perth and mistakenly thought he had hired strippers. When police arrived at the hotel he admitted his actions but resisted when told he was being held to detoxify and was eventually pepper-spayed in a patrol car. He arranged to apologise to police for his out-of-character behaviour, he said.