Teen on home detention jailed for night-time ram-raids with H-Town 07 youth gang

The aftermath of a ram raid in Oratia, West Auckland in 2022. Photo / Hayden Woodward.

A teen who stole cars and used them in a series of night-time ram-raids while on home detention caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to more than a dozen businesses and car owners.

Jessie Roberts was 18 when his youth gang went on a robbery spree in 2021, and 19 when he was sent to prison last year.

“The harm done by you to businesses, some of them small, some of them major, but all of them damaged, is really significant,” Judge Gary Collins said in the Hamilton District Court ruling which was delivered in May but released by the courts this week.

“There are a lot of victims,” he said.

Eleven businesses were hit between May and June 2021.

Part of a youth gang who called themselves H-Town 07, Roberts stole cars and drove them through shop windows at night or in the early hours of the morning.

A group of them would run into the shop, take a whole lot of things and flee in another car. They stole electronics, jewellery, cell phones, clothing and cash, whiskey and vodka. At one shop, they took Red Bull.

It was not known at the time of sentencing how much damage was racked up, but the wreckage to the jewellery shop alone was $60,000.

Judge Collins said the damage to the businesses could be in excess of $200,000 and $300,000. The stolen cars could potentially increase that amount by an extra $100,000 or more.

He called it “deliberate, planned offending” at the highest end of commercial burglaries, affecting victims’ businesses, livelihoods, and their sense of security - they were car owners, shop owners, and the people who worked in them.

“The only good thing that can be said is that no one was injured, nor was there any confrontation or fight with any of the owners,” the judge said.

The teenager was on home detention for aggravated robbery at the time.

Roberts pleaded guilty to 10 charges of burglary, one of attempted burglary, and five of taking cars, with each burglary charge carrying a maximum jail term of 10 years.

His probation report showed he had multiple basic needs, and an earlier court ruling suggested he had foetal alcohol syndrome.

“We know that impacts how you are, what happens to you, it affects your brain,” Judge Collins said.

One of his parents might have been in prison, he was exposed to alcohol, drugs and crime as a child, abused drugs himself and was living in continued chaos.

His bad upbringing and poor parenting were part of the reasons behind his offending - “That is a tragedy,” the judge said, “They are part of the reason why you are where you are.”

He ordered a six-month uplift for Roberts’ previous offending but gave him a total discount of 50 per cent for his guilty plea, remorse, youth, and personal disadvantages.

The final sentence was three years’ jail for burglary and one year for car theft to be served concurrently, with no reparation orders made because he would be unable to pay.

“You go to prison for three years,” the judge said.

At the time of the sentencing, Roberts’ co-defendants were facing charges.