http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article618098.eceA 50-STRONG gang of rampaging drunken Santas ransacked a cinema frightening customers, damaging property and swearing.
Police believe the Santas, who went on the rampage in New Zealand, were a group of university students.
They ran amok for through Hoyts Cinema complex in the South Island city of Christchurch on Saturday, manager Derek Rive said.
“As they ran through the complex they wrecked everything they could, the Christmas tree - they bowled everything over ... (they were) just absolute fools,” he said.
He added that the “hooligans" abused astonished cinema-goers, chanted obscenities, ripped down posters and knocked over cardboard figures advertising films.
“How often do a bunch of Santas just go and wreak havoc?” Rive said.
“It was a random act of stupidity that upset moviegoers."
Security cameras caught the action, but Rive said with their hats, white beards and suits, the rampaging Santas cannot be identified.
Film-fan Kate Gorman, 35, was waiting to see the movie Enchanted with her two children when the group arrived.
She said: “They were kicking things over, ripping down posters and smashing everything in sight.
“They were all dressed as Santa and shouting ‘Ho (expletive) ho.’"
Her children, Gabriella, 6, and Jackson, 7, had been confused by the incident.
She said: “They asked me, ’Are they Santa’s helpers gone crazy?’ and I said ‘No, they are just idiots.’"
As they left, the Santas triggered a fire alarm, forcing several hundred patrons to evacuate the complex for half an hour.
