No charges for royal gatecrasher
By BRITTON BROUN - The Dominion Post
WARWICK SLOW'S SPEEDY JAUNT: 1. About 7pm turned away from Premier House front gate by police and security. 2. Prompted by radio host Iain Stables, he walked about 60m along the road and jumped over a 124cm-high fence at the corner of the property. 3. He spoke to a small group of people, getting a laugh when he asked where he could put his bread and sizzlers. 4. After walking around the lawn and joking with people, Slow was approached by police, led to a room near the garage and questioned for up to 30 minutes. 5. He was then escorted to the car park, searched and sent away.
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Police have decided not to charge a radio station employee who jumped the fence into the grounds of Premier House to gatecrash a barbecue for Prince William.
Spurred on by radio shock-jock Iain Stables, Warwick Slow, 19, jumped a 124cm fence and spent up to eight minutes mingling with staff and guests at a barbecue for the visiting prince on Monday night.
The Wellington teen was carrying a pack of double-cheese sizzler sausages, a loaf of bread and narrating his exploits via cellphone for a live radio broadcast.
Though Prince William did not arrive for another 40 minutes, Prime Minister John Key, who lives there while in the capital, was in the house.
Wellington area commander Pete Cowan said this afternoon that Mr Slow had been warned for being found on the property without a reasonable excuse.
But police accepted he did not intend to commit any criminal acts while on the property.
However, he has been issued with a two-year trespass notice for Premier House.
Yesterday police began a full review of security for the royal visit.
Mr Cowan said "the idiot's" actions could have far greater consequences.
"Future royal visits to this country will see increased security, increased personal protection ...
"The scenes we saw outside the Supreme Court, where 5000 Wellingtonians went out and shook [Prince William's] hand ... that may be a thing of the past.
"There are consequences and they could be significant."
Despite the security bungle, Mr Cowan said there had been considerable planning for the royal visit and security arrangements had been beefed up.
He was satisfied the numbers of police deployed were sufficient and confirmed the prince arrived with his own security.
"The prince's security was never, ever compromised. There needs to be some balance here, this is a man with a loaf of bread and some sausages, not a gun or bomb."
Ministerial Services, in charge of maintaining Premier House, would not comment on security matters.
Mr Key said he was unaware of the breach at the time and stood by existing security at Premier House.
"The only possibility of stopping someone jumping over the fence would be to have razor wire. I don't believe that's appropriate or necessary ... [it] would be a rather ugly eyesore."
Slow, an aspiring radio host who interns at Stables' new X105 station in Wellington, stood by the stunt.
"I didn't want to embarrass the security there, I didn't want to embarrass the country. There was no danger, it was just a joke," Slow said.
"Younger people seem to see the funny side. I'll stay away from the royal family in the future."
Slow could be charged with disorderly behaviour and unlawfully being on a premises.
"I was a bit shaken by the whole thing, I'm only 19 ... if I get charged it won't be funny."
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