"A component of our work is youth justice which is about taking those to court who need to go ... absolutely that is our role, but we also have a role to work with others to try and keep our young people out of the system and help them to stand on their own," Kura said.
"For me, what I would like to see is more people engaged in education for the longer term outcomes, fewer young people committing suicide, indicating that actually we have a healthier cohort of young people that are high on life."
Last week, 15-year-old Haami Hanara became the fourth youth to appear in the High Court at Napier on a murder charge in the space of 12 months.
Haami Hanara, 15, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum parole period of 10 years for the murder for Flaxmere man Kelly Donner. Photo / File
He was handed down a life sentence with minimum non-parole period of 10 years - two months after being found guilty of murder and theft.
On March 14, 2018, as a 14-year-old, he stabbed Flaxmere man Kelly Donner, 40, four times with a knife - twice in the neck and once in the chest and another time in the shoulder.
One of the blows proved fatal, severing Donner's carotid artery and leaving him dying, alone, in a pool of his own blood.
Johnnie Puna was aged 20 by the time he was sentenced for the murder of Mark Beale of Haumoana. Photo / File
The murder followed that of 45-year-old Mark Beale who was beaten and left for dead in Haumoana by 19-year-old Johnnie Puna on February 5, 2017.
During the year, 17-year-olds Rosie Page Lewis and Shaun Liam Karauria were sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to a charge of murdering 22-year-old Sandeep Dhiman in a brutal stabbing beside a remote road near Tutira late on the night of December 17, 2017, motivated by Lewis' desire to steal his car.
The scene near where the body of Sandeep Dhiman was recovered. Photo / File
The Flaxmere community has been left scarred by the murders.
Hastings councillor for Flaxmere Jacoby Poulain said while the events themselves are horrible, it "certainly galvanised the community since then and that's often the case with Flaxmere".
The introduction of Kaitiake (guardian) was a direct result of Donner's death. The programme was initiated in a response to a call of community seeking help and assistance and support, Poulain said.
Hastings councillor for Flaxmere and Hastings Ambassador Henare O'Keefe says the problem is salvageable, but you've "just got to bring the ambulance right back".
Henare O'Keefe believes the solutions to the teenage problems lie within the community. Photo / File
"This community; every man, woman, and child has to take a good look at themselves and we have to go right back to caring for one another. At the heart of a lot of that is good, consistent parenting," he said.
