Dozens of arrests for night one of schoolies

NIGHT one of schoolies has seen almost 20 school leavers arrested and more than 40 fined for drinking in public.

Generally police were pleased with the behaviour of schoolies, with only a small number of the large crowd coming to the attention of authorities.

In total, police arrested 19 schoolies, 18 males and one female, on 23 offences – most of which related being drunk and public nuisance, but eight were linked to drug offences.

A further 42 were issued with liquor infringement notices.

GALLERY: All the action from Gold Coast Schoolies 2014

Benjamin Raymond, 18, was one of the first school leavers to be hit with a fine for drinking in a public place.

He was issued with an infringement notice after being caught by the Rapid Action Patrol consuming alcohol on Hamilton Avenue.

Pictured above, the Cairns teenager proudly paraded his ticket around the Schoolies Hub, telling myGC the night had been well worth the $113 fine.

Police arrested 35 non-schoolies – or ‘toolies’ – on 40 charges, mainly for public nuisance and other good order offences, and three were issued with liquor infringement notices.

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