Police pushed to the limit as teenage thugs inflict reign of terror with frightening series of armed robberies across city Three men armed with an axe and a baseball bat terrorise staff at McDonald's on Melton Highway, Sydenham. EXCLUSIVE: A VIOLENT teenage gang is terrorising Melbourne, with a police specialist armed robbery taskforce admitting the thugs are responsible for 80 per cent of its workload. The gang, called Kill Your Rivals, is the centre of hundreds of investigations after inflicting frightening violence with knives, sawn-off shotguns, machetes, sticks and screwdrivers at service stations, fast-food outlets, bottle shops, milk bars, hotels and supermarkets. Gang members are aged 13 to 20 and teen leaders are recruiting from schools. One 17-year-old KYR member fronted a children's court last week facing 78 charges - including 21 of armed robbery - over a two-month criminal rampage between March and May that netted $30,000 in cash, cigarettes, alcohol and mobile phones. The terror the KYR member inflicted on victims was detailed during a bail application. The court heard one victim was struck to the head with a gun after handing over money, while a female co-worker fainted from fear. In another incident, a 14-year-old girl had a knife held to her throat, while the teen allegedly pointed a gun to the head of an owner of a hotel while demanding money, and drove at a woman who tried to stop him stealing a car in a further incident. The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also allegedly walked into a Coles supermarket with a gun and yelled, "Get on the ground, this is a robbery," forcing 20 staff and customers to the floor. He stomped on a security guard's head as he marched the store's manager to his car with the gun pointed at him until he and a co-offender drove off. CCTV footage of KYR gang members robbing a strip of shops in Geelong Rd, Brooklyn, with a gun and machete. One man hid on his carport roof after the offender and three gang members did a "run through" in his house and smashed everything in their path. The teen punched a man to the head after the pizza shop worker told him he did not have a safe and a victim was struck to the ground after chasing the offender and his accomplice following an armed robbery. Magistrate Belinda Wallington denied the teen bail, declaring him an "unacceptable risk." "These are very serious offences that put a lot of people at risk and the level of violence is quite shocking," she said. They (the crimes) are brazen and organised. A Victoria Police officer told the court the KYR gang was responsible for 80 per cent of armed robberies the Embona Taskforce investigated in the past 18 months. He said some members were to leave prison soon. "I believe the violence shown in those armed robberies and the way they were carried out were a real risk to the community," he said. He is going to continue to commit armed robberies. The court heard the teen and gang members used a gun and a machete to hold up about eight places in one night on May 7 with their crime spree stretching from Brooklyn to Chadstone. Nine days later, armed with a baseball bat and a knife, the teen and a co-offender allegedly committed another eight robberies with targets in Port Melbourne, Northcote, Richmond, Fairfield, Reservoir, Highpoint and Middle Park. Cars were also stolen and torched after being used to commit crimes. About 30 members aged between 13 and 20 * Many members have gang links to New Zealand * Some are in jail but are due for release soon * The mob has inflicted violence and terror in Northcote, Mount Waverley, Sunshine, Middle Park, Richmond, Port Melbourne, Notting Hill and Brooklyn * Suspected in 80% of armed robberies the Embona Taskforce investigated over past 18 months * Recruits members from school playgrounds * Uses guns, axes, knives, machetes and screwdrivers in armed robberies on milkbars, hotels, take-away outlets, supermarkets and service stations * Members use standover tactics to collect money for drug debts KIDDIE crims were charged with almost 35,500 offences in the Children's Court last year for crimes including bashings, kidnap, animal torture, arson, rape, fraud and possessing guns. Theft was the crime that attracted most charges in Victoria with 3439, followed by unlawful assault (2831) and criminal damage (1892). The figures, obtained by the Herald Sun after a four-month battle to show what juvenile offenders were up to across the state, reveal 16,942 sentences were handed out. Melbourne was a hot spot for juvenile crims with 3258 proven offences, followed next by Dandenong (1890), Ringwood (1379), Sunshine (1219) and Heidelberg (1139). The data shows children are becoming involved in armed robbery, aggravated burglary, cultivating narcotic plants, tattooing a person under the age of 18, affray, impersonating police, peddling poison house to house and recklessly causing a bushfire. Despite not being the legal drinking or driving age, some teens fronted court for exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h or more, careless driving, drink driving and driving while disqualified. Among the charges juveniles faced in court were also assaulting ambulance and police officers, trafficking methylnaphthalene, bomb hoaxes, throwing missiles, assaults with weapons, making threats to kill and making child pornography. A 17-year-old appeared in a children's court last week for causing $15,000 damage to vehicles he kicked and damaged and for a brawl in a mall, where a man was left unconscious after the teen stomped on his head. The thug also unleashed a frightening assault on a 75-year-old man, who the teen struck with a brick after he smashed the elderly man's home windows. Police lost a bail application to keep a 14-year-old boy behind bars last week after he broke a court-imposed curfew. He was already on bail facing charges for holding a box cutter to a man's throat while yelling, "I'm going to kill you."