Some parents had an argument with their teenage son, and he went off in a huff taking the family car (technically without asking permission). His parents thought to themselves "I know, we'll teach him a lesson", so they reported the car stolen. They intended to later on drop the charges (which would have royally peeved the police, making a false charge is also a crime).
Anyway, the cops caught the kid, and because Grand Theft Auto (or whatever the NZ equivalent is) is rated as amongst the most serious crimes, he got sent off (before formal charges were laid) to a maximum security facility in the back of a paddy wagon.
He didn't even make it to the maximum security facility. One of the other prisoners being transported there in the same van killed him.
* it wasn't recent (2006)
* he was sent to prison because his parents denied bail, not because GTA is some heinous crime in NZ
Example: imagine the country of Dictatoria where if you jaywalk you are publicly tortured for a couple of weeks and then put to death. "As a detterrent"
A little extreme? Well, consider the 10-20 (or more) year sentences for cyber-terrorism these teenagers are going to get if the FBI throws the book at them.
That kind of law enforcement agency doesn't understand the concept of restraint - they are set up to go for the kill, for the maximum charge, for the maximum sentence every time.
You can lay charges thinking to give them a slap on the wrist, but the steam roller that gets set in motion is designed to crush them flat with no mercy.