This story covers Youth Court proceedings that have statutory suppressions, including the young person’s identity.

“The guys you went offending with, they’re not here. They’re never there. They will never be there when you need them.”

A judge gave a teen some hard truths when he was sentenced in the Youth Court at Tauranga on a raft of charges related to stolen vehicles, failing to stop for police, ram raids, and dairy robberies.

Judge Paul Geoghegan. Photo / Andrew Warner

Judge Paul Geoghegan told the 15-year-old, who was supported by family members, that it was telling who wasn’t in the courtroom – his co-offenders.

“You think they’re your friends but they’re not. Friends keep their other friends out of trouble. They don’t support them getting into trouble.”

According to court documents, the teen’s offending, for which he was sentenced last month, began in February 2023 with two aggravated robberies.

He and three others took a stolen car to the Carlisle St dairy in Tauranga, wearing masks to conceal their identities. Two of them carried weapons.

They went into the dairy but when confronted by the shop owner, they fled.

Then they went to the Matua Foodmarket. The then-13-year-old boy had a knife and threatened the shopkeeper.

The four young people loaded bags with cigarettes, vapes, and cash, to the tune of $15,000.

In June 2023, the teen was part of a group that stole two Toyota Aquas, and drove them in convoy, before they all got in one and evaded police for 60km before being stopped by road spikes.

September 2023 saw the teen and another young person take a Mazda Roadster from the Tauranga suburb of Matua and head to Rotorua.

They were seen by a member of the public, hanging around cars at the Skyline Gondola carpark, and police were called.

The pair attempted to leave but found themselves in a dead-end street, and police put road spikes at the exit.

Their attempts to drive up the kerb to avoid the spikes caused a blown-out tyre, and they spun out on Fairy Springs Rd.

The following month, he was one of a group that stole a series of cars before taking one to the Springfield Superette in Rotorua.

It was nearly 4.20am, and he used his cellphone to livestream as they drove the car into the entrance.

They went in wearing masks, before taking off in the stolen car with cigarettes and vapes.

In January 2024, the teen was in a youth justice residence when he punched another resident three times to the head. He dragged a staff member down the corridor after they tried to intervene. He later assaulted another person while at the residence.

On August 3, 2024, the teen was part of a group that used a stolen Toyota Corolla to get to a Hamilton liquor store around 12.30am.

The young person was sentenced in the Youth Court, held within the Tauranga courthouse, last month.

They failed to smash their way into the store, so they headed towards Hamilton CBD in the car.

The vehicle, being driven by one of the teen’s friends, was driven at police officers, who were attempting to lay road spikes, on two separate occasions, and failed to stop for police who’d signalled with red and blue lights.

They drove in the wrong lanes towards oncoming traffic, and, at one point, were estimated to be travelling 109km/h in a 60km/h area.

When they made it to the Hamilton CBD, the vehicle mounted the footpath a number of times to get around traffic, causing pedestrians to jump out of the way, before it was finally stopped by police in the Glenview suburb.

The teen’s final bout of offending was at the beginning of this year.

He and three others used a stolen car to ram through an entrance at Noel Leeming in Taupō just before 4am on January 13.

Several interior walls, desks, office items and electronics were damaged by the impact of the car driving into the doors, causing them to buckle inwards.

They took five USB ethernet adapter cables, valued at $85 each, and also four sets of security keys.

‘You can’t continue to make victims’

At the teen’s sentencing, Judge Geoghegan gave him four months’ supervision with residence.

The judge said the offending had caused significant harm to the victims.

“Could you imagine what it’s like to just be minding your own business, working hard, in your dairy, [and then] be confronted by aggressive, weapon-wielding young men?” the judge said.

The teen shook his head.

“That changes people’s lives ... Forever. They can’t sleep, they’re constantly worried ... You can’t continue to make victims. Because at some stage society, the community, says, ‘enough’. And that’s fair enough eh?”

The teen responded, “Yeah.”

The judge told him the Youth Court had a “small window” to work with him before he reached 18.

“When you get to 18, if you come back on offending like this, I tell you, I can guarantee you will be going to prison, for a lengthy period,” the judge said.

“No one wants that for you.”

Judge Geoghegan said the teen needed to accept help and think about his future.

“We all need jobs, we all need to be paid. And that’s the way forward for you. To get a job you enjoy most of the time...”

The judge had a final word about reparation.

While the teen’s lawyer, Rachael Adams, accepted the victims were “absolutely entitled” to reparation, she was concerned they may be left disillusioned if orders were made and the money could not be repaid.

The teen had “no means, no assets, no employment”, and “little prospect of employment in the foreseeable future”. His mother was already paying off an earlier reparation on his behalf, and had other dependants to support.

However, while the judge accepted Adams’ concerns, he noted that reparation was to be repaid within five years.

“That gives him until he’s 21,” the judge said.

The “best indicator” of whether he was truly remorseful would be repaying the money.

“Whether it’s out of your benefit or hopefully your wages,” the judge said.

Reparation orders of $625 were made.

“You’ve got lots of potential, you don’t need to be judged by what happened yesterday, you need to focus on changing things for tomorrow,” Judge Geoghegan said.

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.