Youth given 12-month curfew instead of jail

After being told by a defence lawyer that the State had failed in coming up with alternatives to jail when dealing with young offenders, a judge yesterday ordered a year-long night curfew at home for a troubled Limerick teenager rather than locking him up.

Judge Carroll Moran told the 17-year-old he cannot be out in public after 10pm for the next 12 months. The curfew, he said, was imposed instead of a jail term.

The youth was found guilty at Limerick Circuit Court last January of driving a stolen car. A jury cleared him of a charge of risking death or serious injury to a female garda on foot patrol when he drove the stolen car at her.