16-year-old boy charged with O’Kane murder

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy was charged yesterday with the murder of Aidan O’Kane in Dublin at the weekend.

Mr O’Kane, 50, was found shot dead near his home in the East Wall area of the north inner city on Sunday night.

The father of one, a local mechanic, died following a row with a group of teenagers near his home on Shelmalier Road.

Dressed in a hooded grey and black Adidas tracksuit, the north-east inner city Dublin boy, who cannot be named because he is a juvenile, was brought by gardaí into the Dublin Children’s Court yesterday afternoon.

In a hearing lasting just under five minutes in the tiny courtroom, the boy, accompanied by his middle-aged parents, remained silent as Judge Bryan Smyth heard details of his arrest.

Detective Sergeant Martin Connolly told Judge Smyth that he arrested the teen at 2.25pm yesterday at Store Street Garda Station for the “offence of murder contrary to common law”.

The slender teenager, who is about 5ft 5in with mousey brown hair, was charged at 2.35pm in the presence of his parents after which he made “no reply”.

Det Sgt Connolly applied to make a minor amendment to the charge sheet in relation to the boy’s date of birth. Defence solicitor Margaret McEvilly consented to the request. The date of birth was then corrected, with the court hearing the boy was aged 16 years.

The teenager remained silent and impassive during the brief hearing during which he looked around at his parents sitting on a bench at the back of the courtroom and then to the garda giving evidence.

Det Sgt Connolly told Judge Smyth he was applying for a remand in custody for one week.

Judge Smyth, noting the defendant’s age, said the place of remand would be St Patrick’s Institution.

As he was preparing the order, Ms McEvilly asked the judge to recommend medical attention for the boy. She said he was on “specific medication and perhaps he can see medics on arriving at St Patrick’s Institution”.

Judge Smyth agreed to recommend medical assistance and remanded the teen in custody to appear again at the Children’s Court on December 17.

He granted legal aid to the boy to which there was no Garda objection.

Meanwhile, four other people arrested as part of the murder investigation were still in custody yesterday. The four are three males, aged 15, 18 and 33, and one female, aged 32.