SEVEN BAD BOYS: DELINQUENCY IN NORTHLAND

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22822, 17 December 1948, Page 4

SEVEN BAD BOYS: DELINQUENCY IN NORTHLAND

i (P.A.) WHANGAREI, Dec. 17. i Seven boys—-one European and six I Maoris—ranging in age from 11 to 15 ! years, appeared in the Kawnkawa i Magistrate’s Court yesterday on 26 j charges of breaking and entering shops ; and residences, at Moerewa and I Kawnkawa, and theft therefrom, the ! value of money and property taken I being about £SO. ! The police stated that the boys ' worked together, and that entrance to l buildings had been obtained by forc- ■ ing a window-lock at night, crawling ■ through a seven-inch space under a I door, and by the use of keys. One shop was entered three times on j the same night. Two of the boys broke j and entered a dwelling at Moerewa, took away money and goods valued at £2O, after having taken armchairs and consumed beer and lemonade found in a cupboard. The police said that most of flic loot had been recovered, but some was hidden in a secret cache which the boys refused to disclose. The police have ascertained that the boys had no intention of ceasing their operations, and the welfare superintendent agreed that there was a serious outbreak of delinquencyThree of the boys were committed to the care of the child welfare superintendent, one with a recommendation for his admission to a training centre. Two others were placed under the supervision of the district child welfare officer for two years and another for one year's supervision. The youngest was admonished and discharged. “You are seven bad little boys. If I meet any more bad little boys in Kawakawa they will wish they had never met me,” the magistrate said when delivering judgment to the boys, who were lined up before him in order of their ages.