Teen hopes to halt Jobstown trial

The prosecution of a schoolboy accused of false imprisonment of Joan Burton during the Jobstown protest is a “recipe for totalitarianism”, his counsel has argued.

Judge John King adjourned the trial until October 21 to decide if he is going to throw out the case. The 17-year-old’s legal team have contended that it is not accordance with Irish or European human rights laws and that the State has not made out a case to answer.

The youth denies falsely imprisoning the former Tánaiste and her advisor Karen O’Connell, who were allegedly trapped in two garda cars for three hours during the demonstration at the Fortunestown Road in Jobstown in Tallaght, on November 15, 2014. He was aged 15 at the time.