Boy with no appropriate adult in his life is jailed in Dublin

A 16-year-old boy has been imprisoned after a judge said she felt she had no option because of the lack of adult supervision in his life.

Judge Melanie Greally heard that the teenager had nobody in court to support him, and has no appropriate adult in his life since his mother died five years ago.

He had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at The Avenue, Belgard Heights, Tallaght, on June 7, 2015.

Judge Greally said it was with “deep regret” that she was imposing two and a half years detention.

She said she hoped the “level of stability” he would get in a custodial environment would better equip him to deal with life on release.

The judge suspended the last 18 months on strict conditions including that he engage with the Probation Service. “Hopefully the time you spend in custody will help you get things back on track,” Judge Greally said to the boy after he entered his bond.

Garda Colin Hetherington told Fiona McGowan, prosecuting, there was a woman and a baby in the house at the time of the burglary.

The woman heard the sitting room window being smashed and then saw the teenager and another man coming into the house carrying sticks and weapons. She knew the teenager. She heard one of them say “I’m gonna cut her up if I get up to her”, but she did not know which of the intruders it was.

Gda Hetherington said the woman was so terrified she got out through a skylight, onto a roof, and then jumped into her neighbour’s garden.