Residents force teens to clean up tagging

By Sandra Conchie
Two youngsters got the shock of their lives when 15 victims of their alleged early-morning tagging spree in Papamoa turned up at their home yesterday.
The 13-year-old Harford Ave resident, who locals describe as a "walking crime spree", and his 19-year-old alleged cohort from Maketu spent the rest of the day cleaning and painting out the damage to 15 fences and three cars in Papamoa Beach Rd, Hartford Rd, Lyn Ave and Hayley Grove.
Friends of the pair also pitched in with the cleanup.
The 13-year-old can not be charged because of his age but the 19-year-old has been charged with 15 wilful damage offences, plus a burglary charge after he allegedly broke into a house to steal paint used in the tagging spree. He is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on January 9.
When the Bay of Plenty Times arrived yesterday, Hartford Ave resident Mike Jefferies, who had rallied the rest of the victims to confront the taggers, was supervising the clean-up job at the holiday home of Garry and Elaine Rayner on the corner of Hartford Ave and Papamoa Beach Rd.
The Hamilton couple's fence was tagged extensively and they were instrumental in helping the police nab the pair.
"I was planning a game of golf today but we have to show these youngsters that we do mean business, and they just can't get away with it,' Mr Jefferies said.
His fence and three friends' cars parked at his house were tagged.
"We need to name and shame these buggers, regardless of their age."
Mr Jefferies said one of the other victims photographed the youngsters and plans to circulate a warning flyer around the neighbourhood.
"Next time there is any trouble, we will know who to visit."
Mr Rayner said he and his wife were woken just after 4am yesterday to the noise of a disturbance outside their holiday home and saw two young people tagging a car in the carpark area across the road and then move on further down the street to do the same.
Mr Rayner said he phoned 111, and while he waited for police to arrive he grabbed a pair of binoculars to track the duo. He was able to direct the three police cars and dog handler, which quickly responded to his call, enabling them to nab the taggers where they hid in nearby long grass.
By that stage, Mr Rayner also discovered his holiday home had been extensively damaged - the sixth time it had been hit since they built it 10 years ago.
"We work six days a week and come down here for a holiday break, not to be confronted by this sort of rubbish. We were gutted when we realised how extensive the damage was.
"Each time this sort of thing happens we have spent half a day cleaning it up, which not only costs in time but a few hundred dollars in paint strippers and paint," said Mr Rayner, who owns an industrial control company. "This time we have approached our insurance company, which is going to come to the party, but that's not the point.
"These youngsters did apologise and are cleaning up their damage but they still need a short sharp shock to realise what grief they cause other people."
Mr Rayner suggested that shock could include making young taggers clean up other tagging around the city.
"Get them involved in some sort of community work programme and make them work off their crimes. They'll soon get sick of it."
Papamoa Constable Mark Farrell applauded the residents' actions. He said the 13-year-old was well-known to police but was still too young to be charged.
"That will change when he turns 14 in a couple of months."
The youngster is also well-known to 54-year-old Hartford Ave grandmother Jane Pou, who featured in the Bay of Plenty Times in November when she confronted him after her house was burgled.
The youngster admitted that crime and Mrs Pou was able to reclaim her stolen goods but she wasn't satisfied and put the youngster to work mowing lawns and doing chores.
Mrs Pou, whose property wasn't tagged, was giving the youngster and his alleged co-offender a piece of her mind as they cleaned the tag marks from Mr Rayner's fence yesterday.
She said this was the best form of "street justice ".
"Just like residents are doing today, we have to stand up to these kids and show them we won't tolerate this sort of behaviour."
Another Papamoa Beach Rd victim, Jayden Taylor, whose wife Moana discovered the tagging on their fence only when she went to put out the rubbish yesterday morning, said he felt sorry for the youngsters as he watched them clean up their mess in the hot sun.
"It is easy to make a public spectacle of these youngsters but once they have made things right, what back-up or follow-up action will there be to get them involved in positive things to help them change their ways?"
Mr Taylor, a member of the Vineyard Church, said there was nothing for young people to do.
"Tagging and doing burgs is probably just something to do to kill time, because they are bored.
"Myself and some other church members are trying to set up a youth programme to help these kids, who have obviously have no positive role models in their lives. They need positive constructive help, not the naming and shaming approach."
When asked for his comments, the 19-year-old said: "I'm not going to do it again."
The 13-year-old declined to comment.