Serious youth offenders given KFC & McDonalds after stand off at justice facility

A group of teenagers who spent more than 40 hours on the roof of an Auckland youth justice facility were gien McDonalds and KFC.

It follows last week’s stand off where five youths escaped onto the roof of Te Puna Wai o Tuhinapo youth justice facility near Christchurch.

It was revealed fast food was used in the negotiations.

The standoff involving five youths at the Korowai Manaaki Youth Justice Residence in Wiri started on Saturday afternoon.

Oranga Tamariki Deputy Chief Executive Tusha Penny appeared on AM Show and said the teenagers were given KFC and Mcdonald's to come down.

When asked if it was appropriate to give them fast food, Penny said she didn't want to give them takeaways and had to be convinced. 

"At the end of the day, they'd been there so long. I was saying, can we get them roast chicken and vegetables?”

“Of the five young people who remained on the roof yesterday,  three of them came down at about 6.30 last night, and just after 10.30 the final two chose to come down.

 “All of these young people are safe, off site and in police custody. This was an extremely complex, dangerous and challenging situation. We would like to acknowledge the immense support from the emergency services and in particular Police, who had a large team on site since Saturday afternoon.

Fire and Emergency crews were also a significant support she said.

 “I acknowledge that this issue has taken up a significant amount of resource and time. While we are relieved that everyone is safe, we are also disappointed that it took so long to resolve. These young people were given multiple opportunities to make the right decision and to come down.

 “These young people are here at Korowai Manaaki because they have committed serious crimes.

 “Over the weekend they caused significant damage to parts of our facilities, and they will be held criminally accountable.

 “We are in the process of fully assessing the situation, but we know they have damaged parts of the roof, ceiling cavities and security cameras.

"Working in a youth justice residence is challenging.  I would like to acknowledge the kaimahi on the ground at Korowai Manaaki who went above and beyond, for many hours to help bring this issue to a safe resolution.