The boys allegedly stole this car. Photo / Sarah Ivey
He has been dubbed Houdini for his history of escaping from Child Youth and Family custody. From the age of 8, the Te Puke boy has fallen through the cracks in a system unable to contain him.
Now, the 14-year-old is facing charges of shooting at police and
aggravated assault.
The Herald on Sunday has learned that one of the teenagers who escaped from a course at Ruatoki last weekend, allegedly stealing guns and a car and leading police on a chase that ended in gunfire at Mt Maunganui, is a serial escaper who once chartered a plane to flee.
In 2004, is mother told the paper that both the boy (who cannot be named due to his age) and his older brother had been in trouble dozens of times.
Her son, the serial escaper, had run away from foster homes, boarding schools and CYF facilities as far away as Dunedin. In 2004, he was with a foster parent on Motiti Island when he phoned an air charter firm and convinced a pilot he needed to get off the island, saying his mother would pay.
Te Puke neighbours this week said his mother had left, possibly going to Tauranga. But they said problems at the Housing New Zealand house had continued. "The police have been down there every day for weeks," said one.
"They are really bad neighbours," said another. "We have rung Housing New Zealand many times."
Housing New Zealand confirmed it had received complaints and was investigating.
More questions are being asked about the CYF-funded Wairaka Kokiri Trust from whose course the two 14-year-olds absconded.
CYF will not talk about the case of the Te Puke boy but has launched an investigation.
"Child Youth and Family is treating these allegations very seriously," said CYF deputy chief executive Ray Smith. "The allegations concerning drug and alcohol use, as well as misuse of firearms, have been referred to the police."
In the meantime, no young people will be referred to the programme.
