On January 14 that year, the biggest news story was the footage that emerged of this group of tourists misbehaving on Auckland's Takapuna Beach.
It emerged today that the leader of the family, James Anthony Nolan, who fled New Zealand using someone else's passport, has died in England.
The British family, which came to be known as the "unruly tourists", had been filmed that weekend dumping rubbish and empty alcohol bottles on the beach - then threatening to "knock the brains out" of locals who challenged their behaviour.
Confronted by locals, the family first claimed to be Irish, but it was later established they were from England.
Witness Krista Curnow told the Herald at the time that the family of tourists surrounded her and shouted abuse at her and other disgruntled beachgoers.
"The young boy in the video came up to our group and emptied his bag of chips on our blanket, before laughing and ran away," she said.
"Later on, the family packed up and left all their rubbish on the reserve. We were thinking 'are you serious'?
"We asked them if the were going to pick up their rubbish and they said they weren't coming back. So I followed them and I said 'hey don't come to our country and disrespect it like that'.
"Their response was basically if we have a problem then we can pick it up and that that's what the council is for.
"That's when they started getting quite violent. About four or five ladies stood around me in a half circle. They were saying they were going to hit me and I started walking backwards to get out of it.
"They turned violent and even grandma and the child got involved saying they wanted to punch my head in."
The little boy in the video then started swearing and getting aggressive, coming up to Curnow and her friends saying he was going to "knock your brains out".
As the family were leaving the beach, Curnow attempted to take a photo of their number plate, sparking the driver into a rage where he attempted to run her over and steal her phone, he said.
"He drove up onto the kerb towards me and he jumped out of the car and tried to take my phone. A bystander jumped in and told him to calm down.
"They drove off with their boots up, trying to hide their number plates."
That first incident on Takapuna beach was the first time New Zealand had heard of the unruly tourists. It wasn't the last.
What began as Auckland woman Krista Curnow's annoyance at the massive amount of rubbish left on Takapuna beach erupted into international headlines and came close to a political dispute with Ireland.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff even dubbed them a "pack of a***holes".
It turned out that the Takapuna beach incident was not the first time the family had caused trouble on New Zealand shores.
A month earlier, Tina Maria Cash stole energy drinks, rope and sunglasses from an Auckland service station on two separate occasions.
The family continued their holiday in New Zealand and, in that time, refused to pay for meals and caused chaos in multiple locations across the North Island.
The family left trails of destruction through Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. There was swearing, stealing, threats, claims of intimidation and even a confrontation with Herald and Daily Mail journalists.
For a while, the Gypsy Scammers in NZ Facebook page was rollicking with not only sightings, but also threats.
After an incident at Te Rapa Burger King, the unruly tourists were banned from all 83 Burger Kings across New Zealand and, more importantly, Immigration New Zealand issued a deportation notice and initiated their deportation process.
The next day of their very eventful tour of New Zealand, Tina Cash pled guilty to the theft charges, following her visits to petrol stations a few weeks earlier.
Despite being issued the deportation notice, the family continued their travels and ended up in Wellington, where they reportedly tried to book a motel room but lied about the number of people and were sent packing by the duty manager.
They'd also reportedly trashed a Levin motel, with a spokesperson telling the Daily Mail Australia there were cigarette butts scattered on the ground, empty Red Bull cans thrown around the room and towels bunched up in the shower.
The cleaner also revealed the room was "stinking of poo".
The family eventually left New Zealand and touched down in England on January 28.
So... who exactly were the unruly tourists?
In their own words, they were the Johnsons, a respectable troupe who wouldn't dream of not paying their way or taking something that wasn't theirs. They claimed to be related to the 10th richest man in England.
The most recognised, who went by the name John Johnson, told the Herald at the time he had been threatened by a man wielding a plank of wood while visiting an Auckland Bunnings store with a relative shortly after the beach visit, and prior to them moving down to Hamilton.
However, unfortunately for them, Facebook offered different details.
"John Johnson" appears to be Joe Doran, while his young wife is Miley Eileen Doran. The pair have a baby and were travelling with Joe's parents, including mum Barbara. His father was often the driver of their vehicles, especially the green Honda Odyssey which they bought in Hamilton last week.
The pair reportedly had lived in various caravan parks around the East Midlands in the UK.
Travelling separately was Joe's brother, who goes by the name "David Johnson". He is the father of the two young boys and appears to be partner of Tina Cash.
They're not all Dorans though, and the Herald also had access personal details of some of the rest of the group who have different last names.
One of those was James Nolan, who was wanted by police in relation to a series of roofing scams and ended up fleeing New Zealand on someone else's passport in February 2019.
James Nolan's great escape
James Nolan, who was part of the group of unruly tourists, had a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear in court.
He faced allegations of fraud, assault with a weapon and reckless driving, after the Takapuna beach incident. He was also facing charges in relation to a series of alleged roofing scams.
However, Nolan managed to leave New Zealand on January 26, using someone else's passport.
"Human error" was to blame for Nolan's escape from New Zealand.
Customs said they had robust procedures and systems in place to protect our borders, but acknowledged that Nolan had managed to get through on false pretences.
"James Nolan deliberately circumvented border controls by using a valid passport that was not his own.
"He used an eGate, which uses biometric data to match and confirm the identity of a passenger. The eGate identified further checks were needed on the passport.
"The image was automatically sent to a Customs officer, who incorrectly identified Nolan as the passport owner.
"Unfortunately, that was a case of human error, which shouldn't have occurred."
As a result of the Nolan's escape, Minister of Customs Hon Kris Faafoi said Customs has changed its processes to now always conduct face-to-face checks when eGates reject a passenger.
Three years after leaving New Zealand, James Nolan has now died in England.
