Mother screams at judge for sentence handed down to son

The mother of a juvenile sentenced to six years for a violent burglary screamed at a judge that he had earlier handed down a lighter sentence to a child abuser

Judge Martin Nolan said the 17-year-old was the ringleader behind a raid in which a gang of five teenagers held a knife to a student and threatened to assault and rape his girlfriend.

He said this man, who has 26 previous convictions including theft, had been incredibly violent, induced fear and issued serious threats. He said six years detention was the minimum he could impose.

After the sentence was read out at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court his mother was arrested for contempt of court after shouting out at the judge.

During scuffles with prison officers her son also became violent and had to be restrained, while the woman shouted: "we will spend the summer together son".

The woman had earlier being described as an alcoholic whose son was taken into care after his father died in 2007.

The woman continued screaming while both her and the teenager were escorted down to the cells, saying: "You gave a pervert four years for raping children", referring to an earlier sex assault case.

James Rooney (32) of Kelly Park, Lusk was earlier sentenced to eight years, with four suspended, for five counts of sexual abuse involving girls aged between 8 and 13.

Garda Ronan Hobbs told Anne Rowland BL, prosecuting, that the teenager was one of five men who forced their way into a house on Botanic Avenue shortly after 11pm on April 27, 2011.

They held a kitchen knife to the neck of Alan Stewart, a civil engineering student who was visiting his girlfriend Martha McLoughlin.

Three of the men forced Mr Stewart at knifepoint to go to a cash machine and told him the other teenagers would rape his girlfriend at her house if he didn’t co-operate.

After the man had withdrawn the maximum daily limit of €600 the teenagers forced him to drive around until after midnight so they could get more cash from his bank account.

Mr Stewart later told gardai he thought about running away or hitting one of the men but he was was afraid they would rape or stab his girlfriend if he did.

In a victim impact statement he said his relationship broke up after the attack and he quit his college studies. He said he felt he should have been able to protect his girlfriend better.

Ms McLoughlin said that the men who stayed behind with her warned her not to identify them to gardai, saying: “We’ll petrol bomb the bomb and we’ll shoot your friend”.

She said she was afraid afterwards that they would come back. She said she is angry that the incident has changed her and affected her confidence.

Three of the attackers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, hi-jacking and robbery at Botanic Avenue on April 27, 2011.

A 19-year-old co-accused who kept Ms McLoughlin in her flat and threatened to stab Mr Stewart while holding a knife was sentenced to five years detention.

Judge Nolan said this man, who has three previous convictions including one for assault causing harm, was also intricately involved but to a lesser extent.

Judge Nolan said a third accused, aged 17, had tried to leave the house when the situation became violent but was told by the older man that the girl would be hurt if he left.

He sentenced this youth to five years but suspended the sentenced in full, saying: "He wanted to get out of there and had the good sense to try and get out of there. He did not seem to approve of the violence."