Judge: Girl’s shoplifting is like out of a Dickens novel

A judge at the Dublin Children’s Court has compared the litany of shoplifting charges against a 13-year-old girl to something “out of a Dickens novel”.

Judge John O’Connor, who had already got Tusla Child and Family Agency (CFA) to assess the girl’s welfare, said the teenager has picked up theft charges since her last hearing, four weeks ago.

“I don’t know whether there is an underlying issue, whether she is being sent out to do it. There is certainly a huge problem in the family,” Judge O’Connor said. There was a high chance the girl could end up in custody, he also warned.

“What I need to know is, is she doing this herself? Or is she being sent out? Is this a business? And if it is, it is like something out of the 19th century, from a Dickens novel,” he said.

The girl, whose reply to one of her shop-theft charges was “fuck the judge”, was accompanied to court by her mother, and her solicitor, who told the court the teenager was aware “her luck is running out”. Judge O’Connor said the girl has “jumbo sheets”, a term often used in the juvenile court to describe a stack of charges against an individual defendant.

He also said gardaí needed to assign a case manager, and he asked for the CFA to again attend the case, which has been adjourned for directions to be obtained from the DPP. Due to her young age, they are required to determine whether or not the girl’s case should proceed.

He also said a multi-agency approach was necessary. The judge noted that, over the last four-week adjournment, the girl had picked up more charges. He said that, after court hearings, “she walks out and goes to shopping centres and steals again. It is complete chaos. At the end of the day, it has to be borderline whether the CFA are going to start care proceedings,” he said.

The girl is charged with stealing baby food worth €80, and a pack of vitamins from a Boots store, at Jervis St, in Dublin City centre, on February 10.

Since then, and while on bail, she was charged with stealing €14 worth of razors from the same shop, on February 24; and the theft of razor blades and razors worth €435 from the same shop, on February 27. She is charged with breach of the peace, criminal damage to a shelf, and stealing €113 worth of razors at the Boots in the Ilac shopping centre, on March 1.

It is also alleged that, on December 18 last year, she stole three pairs of shoes, worth €198 in total, from Debenhams on Henry St, and it is alleged she was involved in a breach of the peace.

Judge John O’Connor has also said he could impose a parental supervision order on the mother, a non-national, who has already been warned about the frequent arrests of the girl, as well as another daughter.