Boy found dead days after he was ordered into care

A BOY was found dead, having apparently taken his own life, some four days after the High Court had made an order that he be immediately placed in secure residential care on grounds that he was considered to be seriously at risk, it emerged yesterday.

The High Court made an order on Friday, December 1, 2006, for the immediate detention of the 14-year-old boy, who may be identified only as D, in Ballydowd secure care unit. Efforts by gardaí to implement that order were unsuccessful and D’s body was found in front of a row of cottages, some miles from his family home, on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, 2006.

It is believed that D, an apparent victim of sexual abuse and with deep-rooted psychological problems, hung himself — but an inquest has yet to be held into the cause of death.