Featherston kid gang 'bedlam'

Child, Youth and Family has acknowledged the behaviour of a gang of young boys in Featherston had worsened, despite staff having "worked closely" with them.

CYF regional director Karen Petrie said yesterday the eldest boy in the group, a 13-year-old who was apprehended by police earlier this week after throwing stones at a former schoolteacher, has been taken into the custody of a CYF caregiver.

Ms Petrie said this had helped separate the boys and interrupted their pattern of criminal offending.

"This allows us to work more intensively with the family," she said.

The boy and a younger brother will now have to face their victims at a Family Group Conference, which Ms Petrie said would also involve members of their extended family, police and CYF staff.

The conference would look at the criminal offending attributed to the children and their ongoing care and protection needs.

Amid community fears the boys could harm someone in Featherston or face public retribution, Ms Petrie said the family conference would also "give the brothers a chance to be held accountable".

Meanwhile, some Featherston residents say problems in the town are even more widespread than reported. Residents in Fox St and Tait Cres said the children also created "bedlam" for them.