Bright, charming criminal is the most dangerous of all. Rescued from a Russian orphanage. You just think, 'I am going to change this child's life.' Offered a life of privilege, but... Why are you a serial car thief at your age? TYRES SCREECH # Let's start at the very beginning. # Whiter than white. Ever said the F-word? Purer than pure. Ever kissed another woman? I'm just, um, not quite as pristine and pure as you might believe. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013 Kia ora, I'm Miriama Kamo. He claims he's stolen more than 300 cars. He's sparked an armed offenders callout, done time in jail and already cost us, the taxpayer, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Andre Schwaab, who started life as a Russian orphan, was showered with love, given every opportunity a child would want to succeed. So what went wrong? How did he end up being known in Christchurch as Mr Cars? Janet McIntyre reports. So, how many vehicles have you actually stolen? So, how many vehicles have you actually stolen? I don't know. I lost count. TYRES SCREECH, MAN LAUGHS Why are you a serial car thief at your age, with your good upbringing? I guess having fun was more` more appealing than being in school. What do you now think about stealing cars? I wouldn't recommend it. And here's the reason why ` take a look at the rap sheet of Andrej Michael Schwaab, born 1993: careless driving, arson, burglary, car theft after car theft after car theft. 60 convictions and he's only 19. You know it's wrong to steal, don't you? > You know it's wrong to steal, don't you? > Yeah, I do. And that by doing wrong things, you hurt people. Do you understand that? That's usually not the one I try to think about that, hurting other people. I've been exposed to a part of society that I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would have been exposed to. GENTLE MUSIC In the garden city of Christchurch, Sue Freeman raised the son she adopted from Russia, hoping for the best, never expecting the worst. If I abandon Andrej, he becomes even more of a burden on NZ society. He won't come right; he'll only get worse. He needs help. He certainly needed help as a baby. Abandoned at birth, Andrej spent the first two years of his life in this orphanage, raised without love, without milk, without proper medical care. I wasn't even sure whether he had a hearing or talking problem, because when we first met him, he just stood there in these shorts and these rumpled tights and his little shirt on and just open-mouthed looked at us and didn't say a word. Sue, a nutritionist, and her German husband at the time were unable to have their own family. They vowed to love the little boy called Andrej ` a boy who never smiled, never cried. It's a little helpless child. You've taken him out of his country, uprooted him from his culture. It's what every child deserves. But there were troubles ahead. After five years living in Germany, Sue's marriage collapsed. She came home with Andrej and another adopted Russian child. But while Iliana settled into school, Andrej rebelled. I ended up sitting in the headmaster's office just about every week. Oh, sometimes almost every day. By intermediate Andrej was bunking, shoplifting, stealing. There are people on the outside looking in who will say, 'Oh no, she needed to impose more discipline.' I can assure you discipline... normal discipline didn't work. Unable to cope and thinking Andrej needed his dad, Sue sent Andrej back to Germany. But there, he was expelled from boarding school. He stole his father's Mercedes and went on the autobahn to Frankfurt and went for a wee joyride. < And how old was he? < And how old was he? 14. Andrej came back to Sue, back to trouble. He was back two weeks and I got a phone call at about 3 in the morning. He'd been arrested driving my car in a high-speed police chase through Christchurch. 14 years old and in a police cell. I didn't know there were cells below the central police station. I didn't know that world existed. Oh, I know all about it now. Before her brand new Redcliffs home was destroyed by the earthquake, Sue tried to ground Andrej ` locking him in, putting stays on the windows. CAR REVS But Andrej escaped, ran away to this. I don't know where he was living, where he was sleeping. I was driving around the streets of Christchurch looking for him. How much have you hurt your mum, do you think? > How much have you hurt your mum, do you think? > A lot. How do you feel about that? I don't know. I don't really have a view on that. I resent what he's done to my mother, um, but even` even though I do resent him` like, his behaviour so much, um, doesn't mean I hate him. Iliana, the other orphan Sue adopted, had a charmed childhood ` a ballerina, a dedicated student at Rangi Ruru Girls School. Overall, I've had a really happy upbringing and loving parents, supporting parents, and I've had all the opportunities given to me, so I'm so fortunate. Now 21, her life couldn't be more different to Andrej's. With him, if you don't tend to his needs, he would have a fit, practically, and rampage through the house destroying stuff or just disappear or commit crime, and that's a risk we can't take, so it seems like we're always having to soothe him. Yeah, I'll do it. How much? Tell me how much. Yeah, I'll do it. How much? Tell me how much. No, no. Intervention by the police; the courts; psychologists; Child, Youth and Family; three stints in a child detention centre ` none of it made an impact on Andrej. You're man enough, aren't you, Mum? Yet he could impress authority. Don't you want a bit? There was something likeable about him. It's that characteristic he had of engaging with people and being able to tell a really plausible story without even batting an eyelid and... Trevor McIntyre, former principal of Christchurch Boys High, agreed to accept 15-year-old Andrej after Sue pleaded with him, and Trevor took Andrej under his wing. He was an intelligent young man, and he did well at his lessons. But Andrej continued to steal. It was at Boys High he got the nickname Mr Cars ` before he dropped out. I was disappointed, cos he's a young man with so much talent and potential, but he was choosing on increasing numbers of occasions with increasing severity to do the wrong thing. Coming up, 48 hours of madness ` five stolen cars and an armed offenders callout. We thought it was still a big joke. TENSE MUSIC In 2010 Andrej eluded police over 48 hours in a rampage from Christchurch to Nelson. So you stole five cars, one after another? It was it was the Honda CRV, then it was a Nissan Navara ute, then it was a BMW convertible, Uh, then in the same town it was a Mazda RX7 turbo and after that it was a V8 Jaguar what I got caught in. Oddly enough, the road trip started with a with a visit back to his old school to Mr McIntyre ` in the first of the stolen cars. There was this knock on my door, and I went up and opened it and here's Andrej standing here, and he said, 'Oh, Mr McIntyre, I've just come to say hello.' He said, 'I wanted to show you my new car.' So I said, 'Where did you get your new car, Andrej?' And he said, 'I've got this job and my employer has bought the new car for me 'and he's allowing me to pay off a bit each week.' You believed all this? You believed all this? Oh, absolutely. I had no reason to disbelieve him. The car was sitting out there. I had no reason to disbelieve him. The car was sitting out there. You were conned. Yes, I was, absolutely. Andrej took off with a 15-year-old mate ` two teens on a bender. Drinking, smoking, driving fast, tooting at cars ` you know, just having a good laugh. Up past Kaikoura in the Nissan ute, through Blenheim in the BMW. At one point with the BMW, I drove seven and a half minutes, 25 K's. How fast is that? How fast is that? Over 200. How fast is that? Over 200. Over 200 K an hour? > Yeah. Eventually heading to Nelson in the late-model Jag and with an air rifle on the back seat, police in close pursuit. We come around the corner and I see the spikes. And he went straight on over them. Wi` With a car like that, you can make it another 1, 2 K's. Then this ` surrounded by heavily armed police. Most of them had Glocks and some of them had M4 assault rifles... and two helicopters. Everyone who gets a gun pointed at them, for the first few seconds, it'll be a shock, but after that, they can always act normal. Who can act normal? Who can act normal? Anyone. Like, I acted completely normal. After I seen` Yeah, after I'd seen those guns, I stayed in my seat. It was an incredibly dangerous thing to do, wasn't it? Yes. Yes. You could have lost your lives. Yes. You could have lost your lives. We would have been fine. Just a bad kid? Bad genes? Poor parenting? What's driving Andrej's behaviour? ADHD was blamed when he was boy, then Asperger's syndrome. But while Andrej was in Germany, doctors found another diagnosis ` attachment disorder. Damage he suffered in the first two years of his life, two years of neglect in the orphanage. Those first two years have such a hugely... damaging effect when you're profoundly neglected and/or abused. And neglect is tantamount to abuse. When Andrej left the orphanage, he didn't smile and he didn't cry. But what I didn't understand is that in that first two years, so much development in the brain` of the brain goes on. And to this day when I see an ad on TV or a mother gurgling with a baby, it brings tears to my eyes,... cos he missed out on that. Neglect, especially in the orphanages ` you're left alone. It's just silence, so there isn't anything building brain potential there. Lauren Porter, an expert in attachment theory, says the disorder can happen after any child is neglected or traumatised in their first years of life. So, generally people who experience early neglect and trauma, um, don't have a sense of themselves as worthy of connection, of lovability. Those things aren't wired up. There's no belief about those things. She says research is showing early neglect and trauma can even have a physical impact. If you look at brain scans of a child at 3 who's spent that time in early trauma versus a normally developing child, the traumatic brain is actually physically smaller in size, so it actually is stunting brain growth, and... She says the damage can be recoverable, but it's complex. It takes specialist skills and a good support network. If he'd received the help, the therapy at 14 when this first happened, I don't think we would have got to where we are now. Sue says she repeatedly asked Child, Youth and Family to get specialist therapy for Andrej for his disorder as he continued to offend, but CYF wouldn't provide it, even though she offered to help pay the costs. I do really wonder if, because I'm middle-class and educated, that... therefore they... they didn't think he needed the help. But what about Iliana, the other child Sue adopted from a Russian orphanage, now a psych major at Victoria? Why, when Andrej failed, did Iliana flourish? The biggest difference between the two of them is that she was loved and she didn't leave her grandmother's care until she was 3. And she was in two or three orphanages after that. Not saying she hasn't suffered, but she was loved in the first two years of life. Andrej was not. After his spree of car thefts and burglaries ending at gunpoint, he was jailed for two years and out in one, but he continued to offend. There is a need for me to sentence you today in a way that shows you you can't get away with this. Within three weeks of being released, he'd burnt out a car and robbed a house and was back in court again. If you keep on doing this, son, you're going to spend your life in jail. But the judge, taken by what he'd learned about Andrej's disorder, released him on home detention to his mother's house last October. Well, I guess we're going to be like sticky glue together, aren't we? (LAUGHS) Do you ever feel bad about not meeting your mother's expectations? Well, my life's not on purpose to be filled out of her expectations. It's what I want to do with my life, and right now I'd rather like to become a chef or a mechanic. What do you hope for Andrej? What do you hope for Andrej? I hope he doesn't go back to prison. Andrej has to make his own way in the world. I've done the very best I can. Um, I'm sure I've made mistakes. I'm sure I have. POIGNANT MUSIC He'll always be this boy I love, this child I love. Well, Child, Youth and Family say they have made substantial efforts over the years to help Andrej, including therapy and residential care. They say his offending may say more about his difficult start in life than it does about his adoptive family and government agencies. Well, next up ` purer than pure Julie Andrews. Or is she? BRASSY MUSIC Baring my bosom was part of the legitimate role. It wasn't just done for exp` you know, for being a gimmick. Do I need to change what I grow? Should we be getting more kids into apprenticeships? UPBEAT MUSIC Do we need better recreation centres for ethnic communities? Does everyone count in the future of our country? Yes, we do. Tuesday is Census Day. Census information is used by businesses, iwi, councils and the government to make decisions on issues that affect us all. Don't forget to complete your forms online or on paper, because you count. Welcome back. She is practically perfect in every way. Julie Andrews enchanted us all as the magical nanny Mary Poppins. Then came Maria in The Sound of Music. But as well as being nice, she can also be naughty, apparently, on a few fronts. I'm not sure if this should have a, uh, viewer discretion warning. Julie Andrews with Alex Cullen. EASY-LISTENING MUSIC We're going to do a wholesome test` > We're going to do a wholesome test` > Wholesome test? Yes, like a` You know, to see how wholesome you are. Yes, like a` You know, to see how wholesome you are. I see. Uh-huh. Yes or no. > Yes or no. > So you don't believe, huh? No, I don't believe` Hopefully after this test I will. Oh my. Oh my. So, right, the wholesome test begins now. OK. OK. Have you ever skinny-dipped? OK. Have you ever skinny-dipped? Yes. Have you ever said the F-word? Have you ever said the F-word? Oh, yes, I have, and a few others beside. Have you ever kissed another woman? Have you ever kissed another woman? Kissed another woman? Once. OK, you dirty rat. Roll 'em. # The hills are alive # with sound of... # Yes. Yes. Yes? Do you need to powder Alex for one sec? Do you need to powder Alex for one sec? Oh, look, I think I'm OK. OK. Looks good to me. OK. Looks good to me. Thank you, Julie. Practically perfect in every way. OK, here we go. OK, here we go. Are we ready to roll? > OK, here we go. Are we ready to roll? > Open the cage. # Let's start at the very beginning ` # a very good place to start. # Is it fair to say you are wholesome with a tendency to be bad? Uh, oh, yes. If you knew me` Well, certainly a little wicked at times, yeah. 'Cheeky' would be a great... 'Cheeky' would be a great... Cheeky? > 'Cheeky' would be a great... Cheeky? > ...description, yes. BRASSY MUSIC Do you have a mo? I'm just, um, not quite as pristine and pure as you might believe from films like Mary Poppins. (CHUCKLES) # For a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, # the medicine go down, the medicine go down. # I've done movies that have been very different. They're not just family movies. But the two that were probably the most successful ` Poppins and Sound of Music ` were family films. And if you think about it, every seven years or so, there's a new generation to see those films, so instead of, um, sort of just fading from sight, those movies keep coming back, and there's always a new audience. 'Ello, 'ello, 'ello. MAGICAL MUSIC As a child, when did you know you could sing? > Oh, that was at a very early age. (SINGS TRILL) I was about 7 when my stepfather, who was a fine tenor and was in vaudeville and my mother accompanied him on the piano, and, uh, they decided to give me some singing lessons... (CHUCKLES) to keep me quiet, so to speak. And he discovered that I had this freak voice for a young kid. # God save our gracious Queen. # # Oh, it's a jolly 'oliday with Mary. # Mary makes your heart so light. # # Mary makes your heart so light. # You haven't changed a bit, have you? # These are a few of my favourite things. # Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. > Right, and bright copper kettles and... And? ...warm woollen mittens. ...warm woollen mittens. That's it. (CHUCKLES) Brown paper packages tied up with strings. You're reading. He's reading! You're reading. He's reading! I am. Sorry! (LAUGHS) > You're reading. He's reading! I am. Sorry! (LAUGHS) > See, it's all a cheat. # Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes. # Silver-white winters that melt into spring. # These are a few of my favourite things. # When the dog bites... # Dog bites... What is it about that film that still resonates even today? Glorious music, beautiful scenery, uh, kids, um, and a` and a very good family story. # Supercalifragilistic- expialidocious. # Um-diddle-iddle, um-diddle-aye. Um-diddle-iddle, um-diddle-aye. # You know, you can say it backwards, which is 'docious-ali-expi-istic- fragi-cali-rupes', but that's going a bit too far, don't you think? but that's going a bit too far, don't you think? Indubitably. Can you still say it backwards? Can you still say it backwards? Yes, of course I can. Can you? No. > No. > Oh! OK, docious-ali-expi-istic- fragi-cali-rupes. It's very simple. (LAUGHS) Very simple (!) Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins. I want to talk about Blake Edwards. > I want to talk about Blake Edwards. > Oh, I'd like that. The most charismatic, funny, black humour, uh, sweet, complicated man that I've ever met in my life. Certainly for me, the most attractive guy I ever met. The movies you made with him ` wow, I mean, I wanted to talk about 'SOB', where we saw a bit more of Julie Andrews than usual. I knew I was in safe-keeping because it was Blake. It wasn't as if it was a stranger, and, you know, baring my bosom was part of the legitimate role. It wasn't just done for exp` you know, being a gimmick. It was actually part of the dramatic arc of the film. Yeah. > Yeah. > So it was OK, and he did take good care of me. We had a pretty good innings together. You sure did. You sure did. Yeah. How did that marriage survive for 41 years in Hollywood? We both had enormous respect for each other, and I think it takes two people who want a marriage to last. And it did last, so I think we both wanted it to. And I'm glad. Yeah, yeah, and` > Yeah, yeah, and` > I still miss him, my God. It's only two years. # Crazy world, # every day the same old roller coaster ride. 'I loved and do love the singing. I mean, it's all that I felt I knew how to do.' # I won't give in. # You had throat surgery in 1997. I know you can't say much about it, because there was a` Well, I don't particularly want to. ...an out-of-court settlement, but what's it like not to be able to do something like singing? It's heartbreaking. I could still sing a fair rendition of, um, Old Man River in a deep bass voice, but` but I couldn't sing The Sound of Music, for instance, which was heartbreaking. And... But here's the thing ` I think to some extent, I see the glass half full, not half empty. # The one who's right... # The one who's right... # My gorgeous prince. # ...will be honest and true... # ...will be honest and true... # He'll believe in me too. # ...and prize your heart of gold the way I do. Well, you did sing, though, on the set of Princess Diaries. Well, I wouldn't call it singing. # The most glorious part # of you. # of you. # And you. # of you. # And you. # And you. # Again, you're spanning the generations. Yeah, a lot of children know me better for The Princess Diaries than they do for, um, Sound of Music and Poppins. APPLAUSE, CHEERING EASY-LISTENING MUSIC So, now what's your verdict? So, now what's your verdict? Well, not as wholesome as I first thought, Julie. Thank you. EASY-LISTENING MUSIC But it was nudity for art's sake. She is irrevocably nice. Uh, she'll be bringing her stage show, An Evening With Julie Andrews, to Auckland in June. That's it from us. We'll catch up with you on Facebook ` Sunday TVNZ ` until we see you again next Sunday. Nga mihi mahana, hei kona.