Editorial: Axe raiders mustn't get away with it

There is something sinister about the still of CCTV footage we are running on today's front page.

The image of a group of what looks like teenagers storming into a 2 Degrees Mobile shop in Napier is quite shocking.

The shop - slap bang in the middle of the Napier CBD - has been broken into twice on consecutive nights - within 10 days of opening.

In-store camera footage shows four people, who police believe to be teenagers, charging into the shop on the corner of Emerson St and Market Lane last Monday night after a window had been smashed by one of them wielding a small axe.

Two of the young thieves appear to be female, and one person, wearing a red hooded jacket and a scarf around their face, is carrying a red chilly bin which was used to carry the stolen phones away.

I suppose in this day and age of youth offending I should not be surprised by this burglary, but the youthfulness of the offenders and the fact that at least two of them appear to be female is disconcerting.

Make no mistake, this was a planned raid.

You can tell from the body language of the burglars, that while they are clearly young and foolhardy, they have a steely determination that they are going to achieve what they set out to.

One can only imagine what would have happened if a slightly intoxicated late-night reveller had stumbled across them in the act and tried to confront them.

I have no doubt that the tomahawk would have been wielded with deadly force and suddenly the youngster would have found him or herself wanted for murder.

The other disturbing thing about this raid is that it was relatively early in the night - only about 11pm. This means that these kids actually did not really care if anyone saw them.

This shows that it was a calculated and clinical operation. Stupid, of course, but some thought was put into planning the operation.

If young minds can come with a plan to break into a shop and get out before the cops or security come, then surely they could be using their brains to study and educate themselves.

Maybe they are just too far gone to be saved, but it would be good if they could be rehabilitated.

But at this stage, I would just be happy with catching them and punishing them. They need to be made an example of.