The family behind a small-scale service station is teetering on the edge of closing up shop after their business was robbed a sixth time.
Ross Brown, who has owned GAS Parua Bay with his wife Lynne for 12 years, says Sunday's theft by a group of brazen 15- to 17-year-olds has left him fed up.
"If somebody burgled your house six times you'd move, you'd sell up...but that would only hurt the people who live out here."
Security camera footage from the latest break-in shows a four-door car pulling up close to the bait-and-tackle window at the front of the building shortly before 8.30pm.
In the background, the headlights of other vehicles can be seen passing by less than 10m away on Whangārei Heads Rd.
A young man leans out of the back passenger window and looks into the store, lit only by the glow of the drinks fridges.
He disappears back through the window seconds before the car drives off. A brief moment passes and the car is back.
This time the driver leaves some space between the car and the window where four young people - hoodies up, masks on, and two with gloves on - file out.
One of the teens uses a mallet to smash the window and clear the glass away. The group then hurls backpacks into the store before hurriedly clambering through after them.
The teens spend the next two minutes pulling at an empty till; ramming chocolate bars, hats and sunglasses into their bags while scattering items all over the floor.
An entire shelf full of chewing gum is grabbed last minute by one of them as they make a hasty exit back to the car parked outside with its lights off.
Lynne and her daughter Nicky had finished for the day only an hour before the station was hit.
Elements of the break-in left Nicky uneasy.
"Normally they happen around 3am. This is the earliest one we've had," she said.
"They just didn't care, and when they've got weapons like that it freaks me out. You just don't know what can happen."
Even though the raid avoided a repeat of 2016 when the station was hit twice in six days - costing more than $25,000 in damage and losses - it was little comfort to Brown.
Every break-in was expensive to repair damage, replace stock and add more layers of safety features.
"It's just more money. It's hard enough in this industry as it is with all the Government regulations, and now you add these burglaries."
The business only earns 10c per litre. Instead, it relies on the shop, fishing and garden centre sales for income and to pay the wages of its 10 staff.
The latest theft comes shortly after the GAS Parua Bay sponsored money towards community golf and kids rugby.
"It just pisses you off," Brown said. "I'm ready to sell."
The family have already taken steps to deter thieves - cigarettes are inaccessible, the till empty, homemade bollards installed, strengthened doors, thorough CCTV added - but they're determined, persistent and prepared.
Worst of all: "They're just kids."
"There's no consequences for them. They can say 'let's go and smash a garage for fun' and they get away with it," Brown said.
A group of seven youths used a vehicle to smash their way into Taipa's Z Energy service station on State Highway 10 at around 1.10am on Wednesday.
A fog cannon was activated, causing the group to flee in three stolen vehicles. However, they soon returned and stole a number of items from the service station.
In the 12 months leading up to March this year, police recorded 655 offenders aged five to 19 in Northland - two of them were between five and nine.
This is compared to 732 the year prior, and 713 offenders in the 12 months up to March 2020. The figures do not take into account the number of offences carried out by each young person.
Around 37 per cent of the 2100 young offenders across the three years faced court action as a result of their offending.
Seventy-two 10 to 17-year-olds appeared in Youth Court in Northland last year - up from 66 in 2020. The majority appeared in Whangārei, then Kaikohe and Kaitāia.
Roughly six per cent did not face legal proceedings, whereas around 57 per cent were managed by the Youth Justice system outside of the courtroom - such as a referral to Police Youth Aid.
Serious offences - murder, manslaughter, robbery, serious assault or rape – are transferred from the Youth Court to a district or high court.
In Northland in 2021/20, there were 33 finalised court charges for youth aged 12 to 17 that involved aggravated robbery (15), grievous bodily harm (9), aggravated sexual assault (6), and murder and manslaughter (3).
This was up from 2019/20, when there were 21 disposed cases for aggravated robbery and six for grievous bodily harm.
Eighteen finalised aggravated robbery cases were recorded in 2018/19, followed by nine grievous bodily harm cases, and three for aggravated sexual assault.
Police Association president Chris Cahill says the youth justice system is "often really positive" in changing the pathway of a young offender.
The kids who end up in the justice system often hail from "really horrible lives", lacking opportunity and education; but harbouring experiences as a witness or victim of domestic violence, Cahill said.
"...if you understood what they've been through you might have a bit more of an understanding as to why they've committed the crimes."
Cahill's claim is supported by a Ministry of Justice Youth Justice Indicators Summary Report for December 2021.
It states 96 per cent of 10 to 13-year-olds and 88 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds referred for a youth justice family group conference (FGC) from 2014 to 2021 had previously expressed concern that they or their family needed help.
"It's pretty disheartening for everyone involved but that doesn't help the victim, of course," Cahill said.
Especially when it came to "prolific" young offenders who had experienced the whole youth justice system with little impact.
"The reality is if you don't take the time and effort to try and turn their life around they're only going to continue to offend and create more victims."
Cahill said the limited ability of Youth Court and youth facilities played a role.
"They can't lock them up and throw away the key...and if they do they tend to be - to be honest - just an apprenticeship to commit more crime in a way."
All are a point of frustration for police, who Cahill said often know who the repeat young offenders are.
"We've gotta try and turn off that tap and find other options for them. Which is very hard when you're dealing with someone who has no respect for you, for other people's property, and continues to offend."
The key, according to Patsy Henderson-Watt - director of Whangārei's Miriam Centre counselling centre - was in providing an all-encompassing response rather than siloed help.
She said families were hampered as issues of domestic and sexual violence, poverty, drugs, alcohol, truancy, and housing were dealt with separately.
"When you're feeling hopeless yourself, how can you find the energy to give a sense of hope to your children or those around you?"
Henderson-Watt wanted to see more funding reach non-Government organisations that have a multi-pronged approach rather than a niche response.
"Give us the resources and we can make it relevant to the families that we're helping, Henderson-Watt said. "We can identify them and empower them to change whatever is keeping them stuck in their lives."
• The Advocate was still waiting for a response from Northland police at edition time.
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