The State’s detention centres for under-16s do not have any sentence places available at present, the Dublin Children’s Court heard yesterday.

A 14-year-old boy, who has 52 convictions on his criminal record and was recently given a two-year detention order, has escaped from custody and has been at large for nearly three weeks.

A 14-year-old boy was today convicted of taking part in three burglaries within the space of an hour, less than two months after he was put into a juvenile detention centre.