Fatherless homes ‘lead to child crime’

WITH serious child crime now soaring, Chief Justice Ronan Keane says fatherless homes are to blame.

Garda statistics show the number of serious crimes committed by children under 16 rose by 70% in 2002.

The country's top judge believes the dysfunctional family is at the root of the young crime problem.

"The absence of the father role is a very serious matter in society it affects children very badly that there is no settled male figure in their lives," he is quoted in a interview published yesterday in a Sunday newspaper.

The total number of offences committed by young offenders topped the 10,000 mark in 2002, highlighting the growing extent of lawlessness among juveniles.

The number of very serious, or headline, offences almost doubled to 400 44 of those crimes were committed by children under 14 and included two murder threats and one manslaughter. In 2001 there were 230 such offences.

While dysfunctional families occur in every strata of society, including middle-class and relatively affluent members of the community, there are indications that these problems are far greater in less affluent and socially deprived communities, says Mr Justice Keane.

The chief justice also indicated that murderers should not always receive a compulsory life sentence.

He believes the continued application of the mandatory life sentence in murder cases wrongly restricts judicial discretion when sentencing convicted killers.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell, however, is insisting that convicted murders must spend a minimum 12 years in jail, with 15 becoming the norm for gangland killings.

Mr Justice Keane believes the use of the mandatory life sentence in murder cases prevents judges from distinguishing between different types of killings.

While the deliberate taking of human life in any society must always be regarded as the worst of crimes, no two murders are the same, he insists, however.

"On one end there are instances of a domestic nature where there doesn't seem to be any premeditation, where somebody of previously blameless character kills his or her partner. At the other end of the scale you have someone who commits deliberate cold blooded, calculated murderer of totally innocent, blameless people, sometimes children," he points out.

He also questions the huge tribunal costs and says they are understandably a matter for public concern and believes the huge increases in legal fees are contrary to public interest.