Almost 500 kids charged in NSW Police country crime crackdown

Between September 2023 and January this year, 475 kids between 10 and 17 have been charged, as police record thousands of car thefts and break ins across country NSW.

Police have investigated almost 1800 break and enters and 1700 car thefts over just 500 days as they crack down on baby-faced crims terrorising bush communities.

Between September 2023 and January this year, 475 kids between 10 and 17 have been charged over break-ins, home invasions and car thefts – and the majority of them are from the state’s north coast.

The kiddie crims have been charged by cops from Operation Mongoose, which focuses on serious property-related crime predominantly committed by young offenders.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal NSW Police from the ongoing operation have investigated 1781 break and enters and 1646 stolen vehicles over the 18 months – resulting in more than 3200 court attendance notices for both juveniles and adults.

The operation has been broken down by region, targeting youth crime hot spots in the northern, southern and western parts of the state.

Police have investigated almost 1800 break and enters and 1700 car thefts over just 500 days as they crack down on baby-faced crims terrorising bush communities. Picture: Supplied

While the majority of break and enters and car thefts have occurred in the Western region – which includes the troubled towns of Moree and Dubbo – the most kids have been caught in the Northern region, with 238 teens arrested and charged.

Just last week, two 11-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl from Albury were charged after threatening a 70-year-old woman with a knife, demanding her car keys before stealing her SUV.

The escalation of crime in young teens saw police launch Operation Soteria late last month, with 60 new dedicated police and rapid response units deployed to problem areas like Moree, Taree and Kempsey to tackle juvenile crime. Soteria oversees Operation Regional Mongoose, and will take control of criminal investigations into offending across Northern and Western NSW Police regions.

“It’s about reducing fear in the community, nobody deserves to be frightened in their own home and in regional NSW that has been the case, it has to stop,” Police Commissioner Karen Webb said last month.

Eugene van Wyk is one of a growing number of victims whose homes have been preyed upon by teens at night. Just four weeks ago masked thugs broke into his house and crept about while his family slept, destroying his sense of safety.

Mr van Wyk – who lives in the north coast town of Old Bar – had his car stolen by a gang of teens who broke into his home in the dead of night.

“The dog woke me up … I went downstairs but didn’t realise anything was happening, I didn’t realise the sliding doors had been opened,” Mr van Wyk said.

Teen thugs in The Central Coast and Terrigal trying to break into home and steal cars. Picture: Supplied

He then heard his car start, and with horror, realised the noise he had heard was criminals breaking into his home.

“There was a knife block on my kitchen bench … if I had seen them in the house things probably would have ended worse.”

Mr van Wyk moved to Australia from South Africa 15 years ago to escape the violence and break-ins in his home country. However, he said the problem is now just as bad in his regional town.

Supplied photo of Shane Stedman's $150,000 LandCruiser was stolen from his Crescent Head home in the middle of the night and found burnt out. Pic Supplied.

“It made me angry, pissed off and frustrated. It’s going to end badly because someone is going to catch them,” he said.

“I have security, I have dogs, movement lights, I have a weapon next to your bed, and you sleep with one eye open. You don’t open your blinds anymore, you lock your windows and doors. You think you are living in a safe place but you aren’t.”