As an Ashmont man lay bed-ridden in hospital at the weekend, two young teens allegedly robbed his home, torching it for good measure on the way out.

The cold-hearted act has become a jarring symbol of the city’s youth crime epidemic.

It also marks a tipping point in the youth crime debate for a community already turned upside-down by the relentless tide of home break-ins and car thefts.

It seems trite to say too many good people in Wagga are becoming victims.

But they are.

The impact of being targeted by thieves can be deep and long-lasting.

In a statement to the DA, a relative of the weekend’s Ashmont break-in victims laid bare the feelings of hurt and anger the elderly couple was feeling.

“The greatest loss is the soul-destroying realisation that they can never go home again,” the statement read.

“They can never sit in the lounge room together and enjoy a precious few moments of each other’s company as life’s journey comes closer to an end.

“They and the family will never recover.”

No one has a right to subject another human being to such unnecessary anguish and hurt.

Yet it’s happening daily in our community, a community the vast majority of us invest our time and energy into making the best place we can.

There’s no silver bullet solution here, no quick fix to the crime scourge.

Reducing youth crime is as complex and multi-faceted as the human condition itself.

Some believe magistrates hold the magic wand; they should simply lock up crims for longer.

If only it were so simple.

Many of these offenders come from families where dysfunction has rendered a normal home life impossible.

Magistrates should be tougher when sentencing repeat offenders, but that alone will not solve the problem.

Balancing punishment with rehabilitation in young offenders is a delicate balancing act.

As long as there are teens struggling with identity, devoid of role models and pushed to the fringes, there will be crime.

It doesn’t fit into a headline or neat soundbyte but it’s no less true: Youth crime is a whole-of-community social problem that needs a whole-of-community approach.