Five males have appeared in court accused of an aggravated robbery that left two employees injured, a store smashed up and more than $50,000 worth of jewellery stolen.

The robbery took place at the Whangārei branch of Michael Hill Jeweller around 4pm on Wednesday during a busy afternoon in the mall while many high school students made their way home.

The alleged offenders were captured on video arriving on the footpath in a red Mitsubishi, which police say had been stolen.

Police allege the group stormed the store dressed in black hoods, balaclavas and gloves with weapons including a tyre iron and screwdriver.

Display glasses were smashed and jewellery was taken. Two workers were assaulted by one of the alleged offenders with a tyre iron and another of the accused kicked a woman filming nearby.

After the group left, they travelled south on Tarewa Rd where the vehicle was later found abandoned.

The five accused were arrested in Raumanga a short time later.

The alleged offenders appeared separately on Thursday afternoon in Whangārei Youth Court and District Court before Judge Greg Davis. NZME was granted permission to report on court proceedings for the offenders in the youth jurisdiction.

Three of the accused are under the age of 17, one is of an age where he is eligible to be transferred to the District Court and tried as an adult, and another is 19 years old.

All five appeared dressed in blue boiler suits and were represented by lawyers Jarrod Griffin, Tracey Donald, Aaron Dooney, Melissa Russell and Adam Pell.

Only one made an application for bail which was declined by Judge Davis who remanded the youth into the custody of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki.

The remaining four did not seek bail and were also remanded in custody.

During the court hearing, a cousin of a youth was asked by the judge to leave and as he did he took a photo of the young person in the dock.

Judge Davis directed he be brought back into court, however, he managed to escape the building.

When the adult court was opened for the 19-year-old’s appearance, the cousin returned and took a seat in the public gallery as they made gang signs with their hands at one other.

Judge Davis noticed the interaction and asked the alleged offender if he was busy.

“If you’re busy, you can go, ‘cos I’m busy for the next month too,” Judge Davis said to the man in the dock.

The cousin then took another photo and Judge Davis immediately directed court security to seize his phone.

“How much is that phone worth? A grand? Well, you just kissed a grand goodbye, unlock that phone,” Judge Davis demanded.

The man was adamant he did not want the police to delete the photo, insisting he deleted the photo himself, swearing at the judge while calling him “bro”.

“Right, get to jail, you don’t come into my court and swear, it’s called contempt and I’m not your bro. I’m the judge,” Judge Davis told him.

As he was led to the cells, he handed his phone to an officer. The photo was deleted and he was let go.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngātiwai/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked freelance in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.