Channel News Asia quoted Auckland Mayor Phil Goff as calling the tourists "trash" and "leeches". The article then highlighted how the Mayor told a student radio station he'd "like to see them out of the country".

Multiple restaurant owners came forward following the incident alleging the group refused to pay the bill for their meals. One curry restaurant in Northcote was allegedly left $250 out of pocket after the group refused to pay.

When images of the group surfaced online, Australian media linked them to travellers who were run out of Queensland in Australia in 2018 after they were accused of scamming restaurants and residents of thousands of dollars.

Media attention covering the travellers intensified from there, as the group moved on to Hamilton, where a 26-year-old woman, Tina Marie Cash, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft in the Hamilton District Court.

British tabloid The Sun jumped on the story, publishing an article about where Cash allegedly used to live in Leicestershire in the English Midlands. A journalist for the tabloid visited village where a local said they were terrorised by the group's anti-social behaviour.

The Mirror also ran a story on the holidaymakers, highlighting how Cash admitted to theft charges and that the family faced deportation after being met by authorities in Hamilton on Tuesday.