I have memories of MX friends pulling me and my bike out of muddy bog holes, pushing me up steep clay muddy hills and encouraging me to get out of first gear and hold it on, down these steep wet clay hills (Thanks Smiley)… Not knowing it at the time, all of this built a strong platform for later in life. I wasn’t very patient and didn't enjoy waiting around the pits much but it wasn’t long before Dad and the club started to run Junior 45 minute mini hair scrambles. Dad loved to race these two-hour hare scrambles and was very good at them. I was always with him, riding around while helping out with putting the arrows up, moving logs, etc, and genially honing around. That progressed into trail riding, then hare scrambles where Dad helped set up and run these for many years with the Whangarei MCC. We are doing everything we can - what we're saying is it's a wider issue.Right from the start, Dad was beside me riding around farms, pulling wheelies and having fun. 'We understand the harm that's happening to our retailers.We see it happening to our local dairies so it's frustrating for us. There has to be a very different pathway for 11-year-olds.'Īsked why those children needed a different pathway, Bright said 'we work within the laws we have'. 'The justice sector will deal with some of them but some of them are 11.

'Some of these young people are repeat offenders, but some of them aren't and we need to intervene with them at the age they are,' Bright said. in some of these cases.'īright pushed back on Hosking's suggestion that 'young punks' should be 'locked up and taught a lesson' as a deterrent to others. There's a reason they don't want to be at home in the middle of the night.

'These young people in some cases are growing up in very difficult circumstances. Hosking suggested those children's parents were unlikely to pass that message along, and Bright appeared to agree. 'We're asking people to talk to their young people about these social media videos and try to ensure they understand the harm that goes along with them, the risk taking.' Over 90 per cent were under 17.Īnd there was a wider issue of why young people were out in stolen cars in the middle of the night. Over 50 per cent of the offenders they had dealt with in Counties Manukau since October were aged 10-14, she said. The public could help by informing police if they became aware of stolen property being sold. But they needed help from others to address the problem. Police were doing their part - patrolling at night, stopping cars and dealing with the young people they found, while detectives were identifying those responsible, she told Mike Hosking. Speaking on Newstalk ZB this morning, Bright said ram raids weren't new but there was currently a spike in offending. Shop owners are fearful for their livelihoods with some hiring private security and at least one sleeping in her shop.Ĭounties Manukau Detective Inspector Karen Bright called it a 'tragedy waiting to happen' with fears a carload of children could be killed.Īnd she warned social media was fuelling these incidents as youngsters posted their exploits to TikTok to the adulation of their peers. Police warned yesterday that lives are being put in danger by the worrying trend which has exploded over the past four weeks and largely involves young people. Many of those commenting on the TikTok video appear to be admiring the youngsters' exploits but others warn it could be used to trace the offenders. In the background sit two cars, one with headlights gleaming, as the young people head into the darkened store.

Photo: Hayden WoodwardNow shaky footage posted to Tiktok shows a different angle - one of the youngsters following their peers into Noel Leeming through the mangled security gates. Police are investigating after multiple stores were rammed during an overnight ramming spree in the Ormiston Town Centre Shopping Mall.

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