The mother of a 10-year boy responsible for ram raids and robberies across Christchurch is beside herself with despair as he continues to cause havoc across the city.

Last week, Rachel’s son (not her real name) was involved in a robbery of a dairy in a Riccarton, where a till was ripped out.

The car the youth offenders used was also stolen.

When Rachel saw the report on Chris Lynch’s news site, she knew it was him.

“He’s been involved in robberies ram raids and the rest of it and is responsible for 80% of the stolen cars around Christchurch.

My 14-year-old daughter and her big group of friends got into this behaviour as a thrill and somewhat adrenaline buzz, as stupid as it sounds, then my 10-year-old followed suit.”

Rachel said her daughter was currently on home detention.

In the sentencing hierarchy, home detention sits above community-based sentences but below imprisonment. Home detention is, therefore, seen as an alternative to prison.

Rachel said the comments online describing “the parents as useless” were hurtful and frustrating.

“Unfortunately, because my son is underage he can not be charged and there’s no punishment.

I have been working alongside Oranga Tamariki and the police trying to come up with things and ways to try and stop my 10-year-old from doing this and all of us have no solution.”

Rachel said all she can do is report him missing and hope the police find him and bring him home again.

“There is no lock-up facility or agency out there that can accommodate children his age.

Unless he is 14 there is no real help that can be given.

I love my children and provide everything that they need but still, they carry on doing this for no real reason at all.

It breaks my heart reading the comments because as his mother I’m trying everything I can, trying to find any help out there but there is none. I just hope that my son stops before something tragic happens to him.”

Rachel said her son had been involved in criminal activity for the past 6 months.

“Police have no solution for me either. They can try to get custody of him and then place him in Oranga Tamariki care which is just another house where he can take off from and continue his crime.

I am mind blown that there is no other option but for me to keep reporting him missing and for the police to then find him just to bring him back for him to sneak off again.

It’s a constant cycle. Until he changes or he is 14 and old enough to be charged and put into a youth justice facility, this will continue.

My son is a beautiful boy that thinks the older boys he hangs with are his real friends.”

Rachel said her daughter has been in Te Puna Wai a youth justice residence in Rolleston 5 times.

“She’s had every bail condition you can think of and breached them all so home detention was her last chance.

So far so good, but her boyfriend was on home detention twice and cut off his bracelet both times, so now he’s back inside.

They didn’t allow him to get bail at home and instead put him in a boy’s home which he hated hence why he cut it off.

Every kid has their own reasons for doing this and some of their backgrounds are so heartbreaking.

The system is honestly f***d and there is no real help for these kids, even mine.”

Last month, Canterbury Police Metro Area Commander Superintendent Lane Todd commented on youth crime in general.

“A lot of the youth crime was committed by a “relatively small cohort.”

“From a youth team, and frontline team point of view, it is a little easier to manage and focus on them, compared to perhaps Auckland.

A cohort that we deal with on a regular basis are all currently facing charges relating to ram raids and stealing vehicles across Christchurch.

We’ve also been trying harder to prevent youth from going down that same path and that takes a lot of stakeholders to work collaboratively. It’s not just a police problem.

We’re working closely with the Ministry of Education and looking at things like truancy.”