New ram raid offence as PM and Kiri Allan front for Govt’s third crime announcement

Justice Minister Kiri Allan (left) and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will be making today's announcement. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Government will introduce a new offence specifically targeting ram raids alongside changes to allow 12 and 13-year-olds to be charged in the Youth Court.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Justice Minister Kiri Allan announced the new policies today - the third in a package of law and order policies specifically targeting youth offending unveiled this week.

Hipkins said young offenders will face more accountability for their crimes while also adding further intensive support to break the cycle of crime.

A new criminal offence specifically addressing ramraid offending will be created, with a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Changes would also enable 12 and 13-year-olds alleged to have committed the new offence to be charged in the Youth Court as opposed to current Family Court.

A intensive programme to break the cycle for up to 60 recidivist young offenders would be established and the successful “Circuit Breaker” fast-track intervention programme for young offenders would also be expanded.

The first two announcements, led by Hipkins, have prompted accusations from the Opposition that the Government is playing politics by unveiling initiatives that might not be fully implemented until after the election.

Hipkins himself had to accept blame for announcing the wrong policy on Monday when he initially claimed the Government was creating a new offence to target people who encouraged or rewarded young people for their crimes. This was later corrected to the effect that such behaviour could be considered an aggravating factor by judges at sentencing.

Yesterday, Hipkins and Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis also copped flak for being light on details as they promised two youth justice units would be built to provide more targeted support to older youth offenders with higher needs, in the hope it would limit their influence on younger children inside youth justice facilities.

In the last two months, National and Act have released a series of crime policies as the issue becomes a key battleground ahead of the election.

Hipkins will also be appearing at today’s announcement, this time joined by Justice Minister Kiri Allan, who has this week returned to work after being on leave.

Also announced on Monday were efforts to curb people posting recordings of their criminal behaviour on social media, making it an aggravating factor.

The Family Court was given further powers, including the ability to request that young offenders perform community activities such as cleaning graffiti or picking up rubbish. Presently, the court could only recommend such activities be carried out.

On the new youth justice units, Hipkins said there had not been any costings nor design work done for the facilities, but that it was a normal process as it had only just been signed off by Cabinet.

The units would aim to provide more intensive support for the most serious offending and will predominantly cater for older teenagers.

Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo is a youth justice residence in Rolleston near Christchurch. Photo / Sam Sherwood

Stronger search powers had also been confirmed for those entering youth justice facilities. Davies, likening the level of the new protocol to passing through an airport metal detector, said it was intended to reduce any contraband and weapons coming into the facilities.

Oranga Tamariki Family Group Conferences (FGC) would also get an extra $1 million towards new family group coordinators who will be specifically focused on youth crime issues. This was expected to fund an extra 350 conferences.

Family Group Conferences are formal meetings where the family comes together with professionals to talk about concerns Oranga Tamariki may hold for a child.