Men will be boys.

A trio of Southland men, one aged 56, were convicted of doing burnouts outside a charity event for suicide prevention.

Shane Thomas Dallas, 56, and Cody Shaun Simpson, 27, were both before the Gore District Court yesterday, each charged with sustained loss of traction in Mataura in February.

Christopher Illingworth, 36, was charged with dangerous driving for attempting to do a burnout in Main St (State Highway 1) in front of oncoming traffic, after exiting the same event.

On February 16 an event called Fcuk Suicide was organised by Deep South Customs, the police summary said.

A car convoy travelling from Invercargill and Dunedin to the Falls Hotel in Mataura raised money for mental health and trauma support organisation The Broken Movement Trust.

The organiser discussed the possibility of doing burnouts in the carpark with hotel management, but it was opposed.

Between 1.30pm-2.30pm, Dallas exited the venue in his Ford Falcon, doing burnouts and sliding along Main St.

He admitted the burnouts to police but said there was not much smoke coming off the tyres.

During the same timeframe, Simpson did a burnout while exiting the venue in his Ford Falcon, the summary said.

He later told police he helped host the event before "stupidly" committing the offence.

Illingworth drove an unregistered, unwarranted stock car into Main St in front of oncoming traffic and tried to do a burnout, narrowly avoiding the traffic and members of the public.

He told police he was trying to prove the stock car would not be able to do a good skid.

In court, defence counsel for Dallas, John Fraser, said his client accepted the behaviour was "silly".

It was a "spur of the moment" thing which Dallas regretted.

He had a previous conviction for sustained loss of traction in 2008 as well as one for disqualified driving in 2003, and "quite a few" demerit points, Judge Mark Williams said.

Counsel for Simpson, Scott Williamson, said his client had no prior convictions and was going to be affected greatly by disqualification as his elderly parents relied on him for transport.

The judge said Illingworth’s last driving offence was in 2008 and he also had quite a few demerit points.

Given his previous history, he fined Dallas $350 and disqualified him from driving for six months. Illingworth received the same penalty and Simpson was fined $250 and disqualified for six months.

Deep South Customs owner, who wished to remain nameless, said in a statement they did not appreciate their business being linked to something that happened after the event and "decisions made by grown men that had nothing to do with us".

The burnouts lasted for over an hour, outside the Mataura Police Station, and they did not understand why the authorities did not not stop them sooner.