Two "dangerous" teens have been dealt a mass bollocking - social media style - after a Woonona restaurant named and shamed them over an alleged attempted break-in.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pai-Tong Thai restaurant posted video footage of two teenage girls interfering with the Princes Highway shopfront on Saturday, and photos of them appearing to flee.
Operators claimed the girls had attempted a break-in and thrown things at the restaurant, and that police had been unable to do anything about their behaviour.
The post attracted more than 400 comments, most damning of the girls, who were quickly identified. The pair joined the commentary and fanned the rage, one telling the other, “don’t we look pretty”. Their comeuppance seemed imminent when one of their relatives noticed the damning footage.
“It’s f---ing terrible I am very disappointed in your girls,” she wrote.
But the woman then turned her attention to detractors, advising them to “go f--- yourselves” and “worry about your own mother f---ing kids”.
Wollongong police visited the restaurant on Monday.
The restaurant removed the footage that afternoon, noting the tide of outrage had become “uncontrollable” and the girls’ families “had been punished enough”.
“Some comments are too rude for public and some of them are not even our friends or customers from our shop,” restaurant operators said.
“Hopefully, these two kids and also their family would get some good lesson from this and stay away from our shop because if they don't, this posts will be posted back again … We just want to protect our family, friends, customers and our property from any dangers. Moreover, we just want peace and do our business without any disturbance. So, please leave us alone!”
Darren Kelly, Wollongong’s acting crime manager, said it was untrue that police could not intervene in matters involving children.
“Police regularly deal with people over the age of 10 in relation to criminal matters,” he said.
“It might not be that they’re charged, but there may be an option for a youth caution, or conferencing or other options under the Young Offenders Act.”
He encouraged reporting to Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000) rather than social media.
