Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Teens on the run for over a week found after escape from youth justice facility

A pop-up testing centre is underway at the Wharekawa Marae in Whakatīwai as three new Covid-19 cases are announced in the Waikato. Video / Mike Scott

Two teenagers who escaped from a youth justice facility and were on the run for over a week during level 4 lockdown have been found.

The teens, aged 13 and 14, escaped from the Whakatakapokai Youth Justice facility in Weymouth on September 10.

That Friday, Manurewa-Papakura Ward Councillor Daniel Newman said he received an email alerting him to the incident.

However, he was advised the teenagers were found on Sunday night.

It's understood the pair were loose in Auckland despite being in alert level 4.

Whakatakapokai is a secure facility used to house young people who are in the youth justice system but at a lower level of offending.

"Oranga Tamariki knows an abscondment from Whakatakapokai is not acceptable but it
appeared to treat two young people travelling without permission and in contravention of the level 4 Public Health Order as a low priority breach," Newman said.

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Newman said he has "witnessed a lackadaisical response from Oranga Tamariki's youth justice services general manager".

"The casual approach to the health and wellbeing of those young people and the wider community is unacceptable anywhere, let alone in a vulnerable South Auckland community living in a level 4 lockdown."

Newman said Oranga Tamariki must now apply a "collaborative approach" to the review of security systems at Whakatakapokai.

"The matter should also be independently investigated as Oranga Tamariki cannot be trusted to operate Whakatakapokai as a youth justice facility, it leaks like a sieve," Newman said.

An email sent by the Whakatakapokai manager at the time of their escape said it was "obviously an incredibly disappointing situation, however our neighbourhood is not at any immediate risk".