Teen with 30 convictions remanded

A 15-year-old boy, who now has 30 criminal convictions, has been remanded in custody to await sentence.

The teenager pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court today to travelling as a passenger in a stolen car, on the Drumcondra Road, Dublin, on January 27 last.

The court also heard that if he was detained for two years in the Trinity House detention centre, where he has been on remand for the past week, he could be released after serving six months.

He already had 29 previous convictions: nine burglaries, three assaults, four larcenies, five for escaping from custody, as well as others for public order violations and violent behaviour in a garda station.

The court heard that the boy, who has not been in school for several years, had developed a drug addiction problem.

He is originally from the west of Ireland but his family had been living in Dublin in recent years.

Defence solicitor Sarah Molloy told the court that lately the boy’s parents had moved out of Dublin in a hope to keep him out of trouble and because he was using drugs.

“But the attraction to come back to Dublin was huge and he developed a serious drug addiction,” she said.

She told the court that she had been informed by an official at the Trinity House detention centre that if the boy was given a two-year sentence there, he would be held for a “minimum of six months.

The boy has also sought assistance for his drug addiction, the court heard.

Judge Catherine Murphy remanded the boy, who was supported in court by his father, in custody for sentencing next week.

The teen said that he had been “getting on grand” since being remanded in custody last week.