Young offenders 'lost generation,' says Judge

Press, 5 November 1984, Page 22

Young offenders 'lost generation,' says Judge

PA Auckland A young man, aged 19, who threw an axe through a police car’s windscreen, injuring two policemen, was one of a “lost generation” of young violent offenders, said Judge Maxwell in the District Court at Otahuhu. Sentencing Brian Norman, a retreader, to nine months imprisonment for his assault on the policemen, the Judge said: “It’s time the country became aware of the need to help young people who get into trouble. “I am talking about a very large group of people who are continuing to offend and the system is offering them very little help," he said. “It’s almost

as though we are looking at a lost generation.” He said the remarks related to all young offenders. Invariably, the offences involved young Polynesians and alcohol. “Alcohol is almost a corollary of offending in South Auckland.” The Judge applauded the efforts being made but said the type of assistance given to young offenders needed to be reviewed. He praised the Maori elders who had made Norman, and three other young Maori men involved in the incident, stand up and account for their actions. The axe was thrown in Otara on August 26 when Norman and three compan-

ions were in a stolen car pursued by the police after a burglary. In an earlier Court appearance, Norman admitted throwing the axe from the window of the stolen car. The axe shattered the windscreen of the police car, striking one officer in the chest and throwing glass in the eyes of the other. Neither officer suffered permanent injury. The Judge said the incident was typical of the violent crime now “endemic” in South Auckland. The car chase came after the burglary of a furniture store on August 26. An axe was used to open a door and electrical goods worth $5OOO were stolen.