Aussie groom's NZ bucks party goes 'horribly wrong'

A Perth-based tiler has landed himself three convictions after his Queenstown bucks party went awry.

Taylor Graeme Ryan, 25, was found guilty after being charged with resisting arrest, assaulting police and disorderly behaviour, from a series of events that occurred on the night of November 21.

The Bucks party celebrations kicked off with drinking in the early afternoon, ending with the groom getting into an altercation at the Lake Wakatipu waterfront, said police prosecutor Sergeant Ian Collin.

After his two brothers attempted to intervene, police were called and the 25-year-old waded into the near-freezing lake to "avoid contact" with the authorities.

After refusing to come out of the water, which was seven degrees celsius, police were forced to go in after him. Ryan refused arrest and punched a police officer in the chest. He was then pepper sprayed and lead out of the water.

Defence counsel Paige Noorland described it as a bucks party "gone horribly wrong".

Judge John Brandts-Giesen told the groom, "You perhaps don't realise how cold southern lakes are. You put yourself and other people at risk by being in the water.

"You were lucky you were put in a paddy wagon, rather in a hearse."

Brandts-Giesen clarified that the police acted in the safety of the man. "This court will protect the police when they are acting in the course of their duty."

Ryan was fined $700.