“SEVEN BAD LITTLE BOYS”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26958, 18 December 1948, Page 5

“SEVEN BAD LITTLE BOYS”

CHARGES OF BREAKING AND

ENTERING PA WHANGAREI. Dec. 17. “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 —one European and six Maoris—who ranged in age from 11 to 15 years, when they appeared in the Kawakawa Court yesterday on charges of breaking and entering shops and residences at Moerewa and Kawakawa. The value of the money and property stolen by them amounted to about £SO. The police stated that the boys worked together, and entrance to the buildings had been obtained by forcing a window lock at night, crawling through a seven-inch space under the door, and by the use of keys. The police said that most of the 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 delinquency. Three of the boys were committed to the care of the child welfare superintendent, one with a recommendation for 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.