British tourist is stunned after noticing dozens of locals wearing ankle monitors in Alice Springs: 'Mental'

Published: 00:50, 3 June 2026 | Updated: 00:59, 3 June 2026 A British tourist has labelled Alice Springs the 'strangest town in Australia' after being stunned by the dozens of residents wearing ankle monitors.  Simon Wilson said he was warned against visiting the Northern Territory on his own while he travelled on The Ghan.   'A lot of the people on the train did say they don't recommend going into Alice Springs alone because there have been some problems in the past,' he said.  'I don't quite know what that means, but we're going to find out. It can't be that bad, surely.'  Mr Wilson admitted he thought there would be dangerous wildlife, such as crocodiles and snakes, and he kept his guard up while walking around the town. He was stopped by a New Zealander named Corey, who recognised him from social media and asked for a photo. Mr Wilson came to fame after sneaking into the Emmys by pretending to be a photographer in 2017 and documents his travels on TikTok for his 1.3million followers. Corey invited Mr Wilson to his place of work for drinks at Uncle's Tavern later in the day and that's when the British tourist was left stunned by what he saw. A British tourist (pictured, Simon Wilson) has labelled Alice Springs the 'strangest town in Australia' after being stunned by the dozens of residents wearing ankle monitors  He arrived at the pub and found it enclosed by an industrial fence with spear pickets on the top. Security told him Corey was not working that day and Mr Wilson began a conversation with a one-armed man playing pool. He wore a beanie and a chain, but it was the electronic tag on his ankle that caught Mr Wilson’s eye.  'This place is absolutely mental,' Mr Wilson said as he walked back outside. 'That guy had a tag on his ankle. Honestly, I must've seen 30 people with tags on their ankle since I've been here. 'I tell you what, coming to this town has been an experience.'  Mr Wilson was also surprised by how eerily quiet the streets were.  'There's a lot of buildings and a lot of cars, but no people,' he said.  The one-armed man was dressed in a beanie and chain around his neck, but a certain detail on his ankle caught his attention - an electronic tag Simon Wilson said he was warned against visiting the Northern Territory while he travelled on The Ghan 'This is supposed to be the center of Alice Springs and I can't see one person.  'Apart from the guy on his phone over there, there's absolutely nobody here.'    He was confused to find Alice Mall Shopping Centre nearly deserted and called it ‘mental’.  'It's Monday afternoon, start of the week, and everything's closed,' he said.  'Everything seems to be closed apart from this beauty shop, pharmacy here and a dress shop there. 'The well being centre's closed, the barber shop's closed and they've even blocked off the entrance. I thought it'd be a little busier in here.' Many Aussies commented on the video, saying people were right to warn Mr Wilson against going there.  'As someone who has lived there, mother and siblings currently live there, not really a place I would recommend going to,' one said.  'It's fine during the day, please don't go out alone at night,' a second said. 'Crocs are the least of your worries in Alice bro,' a third said. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.