Teenagers to face court over Port Hedland bottle shop, international shop ram raids

Eight juveniles will face South Hedland children’s court over what police are describing as a string of “serious” offences undermining local confidence last week, including ram raids on prominent businesses. Last Chance Tavern’s drive-through bottle shop roller doors were smashed overnight on August 2 and Seven Four Seven Supplies on Wedge Street’s entry was destroyed by ramraiders on the same night. Police have since charged eight juveniles over 13 and under 16 for a series of offences. Port Hedland police officer in charge Sergeant Steve Cleal said investigations were ongoing and his team was working with the victims. Sgt Cleal said the incident had undermined confidence in local business owners and residents. “When you have a victim of an offence sobbing in your arms, it shows the true impact,” he said. “When a ram raid happens, (victims) have to shut up shop. It impacts everyone.” Seven Four Seven Supplies owner Eileen Reweti arrived at her store on Tuesday morning last week to find the front door destroyed and metal from the top out of place, causing safety concerns. “I was in shock when I came in; I really didn’t expect to find what I found,” she said. “It’s just getting worse and worse. I can’t put up with this anymore. It’s so stressful. “I was about to give up yesterday but I had lots of support from friends around here, so it gave me a bit of strength.” Ms Reweti said this was the first time she had dealt with an incident of this kind and it raised a lot of questions. “What am I going to do? Am I going to shut shop all together? Am I going to keep carrying on like this because it’s just not on,” she said. Last Chance Tavern bottle shop manager Sam Lowe said he was gutted when he saw the damage. “We are locally owned and supported by the locals and it’s just a shame you invest so much into a town and you still get these problems,” he said. “It’s such a petty crime and it happens so frequently now. What do you do? I do feel for the police in a way because they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. “It’s not an issue that is unique to Port Hedland, it is all over the North West, from Broome to Newman, and it’s really disappointing to see.” The damage bill for the roller door is expected to top $20,000. Mr Lowe said the pub had three break-ins in one night a month ago. “We had to close the drive-through until 4pm, which is four hours of business we lost,” he said.