One-month sentence for youth’s escape

A 16-year-old boy has been given an additional one-month sentence for escaping from a Dublin detention centre following a “stand-off” with staff.

Four teenagers managed to get hold of a ladder which they used to abscond from the Oberstown youth detention facility in Lusk on July 25 last.

Three of them were recaptured within days.

One of them appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court yesterday charged under Section 215 of the Children Act which can result in three-month custodial sentences, consecutive to their current term.

The boy, who was accompanied to his hearing by his parents, pleaded guilty.

The escape led to three members of staff getting suspended.

The court was told the teenager hurt his ankle during the breakout and he handed himself into a Garda station 24 hours later.