Teenager released from prison after bullying, court hears

A teenage girl charged with prostitution has been released from Mountjoy Prison after a court heard that she was bullied by other inmates and constantly offered heroin there.

The 17-year-old girl, a heroin addict, had been remanded in custody to the prison last week after she had absconded from a care home, where she had been ordered to live.

Prosecuting garda Mathew McKenna told Judge Angela Ni Chonduin at the Dublin Children’s Court that the girl who had been in custody was under the influence of drugs.

Concerns were also raised that she had been supplied with drugs while on remand in Mountjoy Prison.

Her solicitor Ms Catherine Ghent applied for bail saying that she had “grave fears” for the girl’s welfare in Mountjoy Prison, which she submitted was an inappropriate place for her to be detained.

“When I visited her in Mountjoy she said that she has been bullied by other detainees. One threatened to cut her up. She has been offered drugs and was under pressure from others to take drugs.

“The pressure is so heavy that if she is sent back there she will take drugs. Her addiction to heroin is causing her huge problems. I would be fearful that if she was sent back to Mountjoy, it would not be in her best interests. Because of her addiction, matters are out of control.”

Judge Ni Chonduin was also told that the only alternative was to send the girl back to the care home from which she had gone missing for nearly a week.

Earlier concerns had been raised over this facility given that it was located near a treatment centre for heroin addicts. Whenever she went outside the care home she was constantly offered drugs by addicts that frequented the area.

She had also tested positive for heroin three times during the short time she had stayed there, the court had also heard.

Judge Ni Chonduin agreed to release the girl on bail on condition that she resided at this care home saying it was “the best of a bad option”.

She had also commented on the girl’s appearance saying that after six days in custody she looked “in as bad a state as she was when she had been on the street”.

The court was told the girl she would be constantly “shadowed” by care workers, who plan to help the girl get drug treatment, psychological assessments and educational assistance.

Assurances were also given to the court that should the girl abscond from the care home, the gardaí would be notified immediately.

Her mother, who is also being investigated over the prostitution allegations, is to be allowed two supervised visits a week.

Garda McKenna also said the girl’s mother had impeded the efforts to trace the girl when she went missing from the care home. The mother had misled gardaí four times over the girl’s whereabouts when she was in fact staying in the same house as her.

Judge Ni Chonduin granted bail and adjourned the case until next week saying that she will keep a “tight reign” on the case and monitor the girl’s progress regularly.

Earlier the court had heard that the girl had been accompanied by her mother and little sister, aged six, when she was engaged in an act of prostitution in a laneway with a 50-year-old man.

The girl claimed her mother was protecting her when she was engaged in prostitution. “She was minding me, making sure I don’t get pregnant,” she had said.

She is charged under section 7 of the Criminal Law Sexual Offences Act for loitering in a public place with intent to solicit or importune another person for the purposes of prostitution, at Stoneybatter, D7, on January 3.

The mother has also been arrested as part of the investigation and could be prosecuted for her involvement, the court has also heard.