The parents of two Christchurch college pupils have been granted a High Court injunction allowing their sons to compete with the school's Maadi Cup rowing team after they breached Auckland Airport security.
The boys, Jack Bell and Jordan Kennedy, were removed from the team by the school and given formal warnings by police and the Aviation Security Service after they jumped on a baggage conveyor at Auckland Airport on Friday.
The St Bede's College pupils, who had just arrived on a domestic flight from Christchurch, rode the carousel through rubber curtains and into a restricted baggage area, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
St Bede's College rector Justin Boyle said he decided the boys, aged 16 and 17, were in breach of the school's code of conduct and banned them from competing at the regatta, which started on Monday.
The Maadi Cup is the largest national rowing regatta for New Zealand school pupils with 2196 teens from 122 schools.
Mr Boyle was told on Sunday the pupils' parents had taken "a united stance" to seek an injunction at the High Court in Christchurch to allow their sons to row in the competition.
The parents' lawyer, Andrew Marsh, confirmed they had been granted a temporary injunction by the High Court on Monday morning, allowing the boys to participate in the competition "while we sort out whether the school was right or wrong".
He needed to speak to the parents and the school before speaking further, he said.
St Bede's College rowing club chairman Shane Kennedy - a thoroughbred horse trainer, builder and developer - confirmed he was the father of one of the two pupils involved, but said he would not comment on the incident.
"At this stage the boys are rowing, that's all I can tell you."
In a written decision, Justice Rachel Dunningham said she considered an "urgent application" which would allow the boys to participate in the regatta this week.
The boys were represented by their litigation guardians, Shane Kennedy and Antony Bell.
Justice Dunningham heard the matter by phone just after 9am on Monday because of the "urgency" of the matter, including the fact one of the boys was due to participate in his first race at 11.28am.
She declined to suppress the boys' names, but granted the interim injunction "preventing [St Bede's College] from implementing the decision to prevent the applicants from rowing at the 2015 Maadi Cup".
The boys are among 42 pupils from the school competing in the regatta at Lake Karapiro, Waikato.
On Monday, Jack Bell competed in the under-17 coxed boys eight at 11.28am. His team finished third with a time of 6.10.63 and will head into the repechage round.
Mr Boyle said he realised the boys were to compete at the regatta of their lives after a lot of hard work and said it was "a very difficult decision" to make.
The code of conduct - which warns that any serious breach of school or societal laws would result in the boys being sent home - was signed by the boys and their parents, he said.
"It's disappointing for all concerned, believe me, but it's quite simple what the code of conduct says; if they break school rules or break laws of society then therefore they could be sent home."
He said the boys were members of several teams, including the school's Maadi eight crew.
Teams had been told to prepare as if the boys were not rowing and plans were in place to fill their spots, he said.
They were asked to go home on Friday but had been told to remain with the team by their parents, Mr Boyle said.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said a Jetstar ramp agent spotted the boys immediately as they emerged in the restricted area and Aviation Security Service [Avsec] officials were alerted.
"The boys apologised immediately and said they did it for fun.
"Avsec called the police and the boys were given a formal warning by both Avsec and the police," the spokesman said.
"We do understand that students travelling as a group can get quite excited, and have a lot of nervous energy, but they must understand that in airport environments there is zero tolerance for games or pranks."
About eight students, who were competing at Lake Ruataniwha last year, set tennis balls and a road on fire. It is the second consecutive year members of the St Bede's rowing team have been disciplined for misbehaving at Maadi Cup events.
The boys, aged 15 and 16, doused tennis balls in petrol before lighting them and throwing them.
The students poured out the letters "SBC" in petrol on Tekapo Drive outside where they were staying and then lit it. The letters stand for "St Bede's Crew".
They also burned out the shape of a penis.
Mr Boyle said it was made clear to the team what was expected of them before leaving and he was disappointed the message did not get through to all.
Andrew McCormick, a partner at law firm Brandts-Giesen McCormick, is representing St Bede's.
Hastings lawyer Jol Bates, who won a recent court case against St John's College for suspending pupil Lucan Battison for refusing to cut his long hair, expected the parents' lawyers to attack the process undertaken by St Bede's.
"It will be a pretty hard call to overturn a decision on the merits of that nature where the pupils haven't been suspended from an education, rather they have lost benefits.
"These cases are always process driven ... I imagine there will be an argument there wasn't a fair hearing of the issue and secondly that the decision was unreasonable, although that's always going to be a more difficult argument."
The Press
