Detention crisis sees 133 criminal cases struck out

CRIMINAL cases against 133 children were thrown out of court last year as no detention places for young offenders were available.

Figures from the Dublin Children's Court showed the judge struck out four times as many cases as in 2000 due to the failure of authorities to provide remand places.

Opposition parties have slammed the Government's continued failure to provide adequate numbers of detention places for young offenders.

In total, more than 12,600 cases came before the Dublin Metropolitan District Children's Court, with almost 20% of cases relating to car theft, joyriding or damage to vehicles.

The number of children imprisoned on indictable offences almost halved on the previous year. Bench warrants were issued against 684 children twice as many as among adult offenders.

Calling for a get-tough approach to law and order, Fine Gael said it was unsurprising young people were failing to take crime seriously when the Government was not.

FG justice spokesman John Deasy said many young people were failing to see the consequences of their actions and had ceased to have respect for the law. The criminal justice system had been neglected for years, he added.

"Crime figures are up, street violence is escalating dramatically and now we find that 133 cases against children were struck out because there was nowhere to put them," he said.

"The antics of the Government in the run up to the election have contributed hugely to the problem. The (previous) Justice Minister's priority was to kid the public into thinking all was well rather than resourcing the justice system." Unless law and order was given priority and real leadership was shown, the crime situation was going to get worse, Deputy Deasy said.

"The criminal justice system is breaking down and the new Minister must develop a policy of showing no forgiveness when dealing with the breakdown of law and order," he said.

Labour said the non-availability of detention places in these juvenile cases was proof of the ongoing problems in this vital area.

According to Labour justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte, aside from the efforts of judges to highlight the detention crisis, these figures confirmed Government failure to get to grips with this problem.

Substantial problems remained despite repeated promises to act and a number of high profile cases, Deputy Rabbitte said.

"The figures make a mockery of the claims of zero tolerance put forward by the former Minister for Justice John O'Donoghue," he said. "Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has entered the job in a blaze of self-publicity. It is clear if he is to impact on this problem he needs to utilise the resources at his disposal more effectively."