Mother and daughter face court after Finglas fracas

A teenage girl and her mother, who were arrested as gardaí tried to restore calm after a fight broke out between two feuding families, have been remanded on bail by the Dublin Children’ Court.

The girl (aged 17), and her mother who is in her forties, had been arrested over an incident on December 23, 2007, when violence broke out at a halting site in, in Finglas, Dublin.

The mother has been charged with being intoxicated to such an extent that she was a danger to herself and others, contrary to section four of the Public Order Act.

She also, along with her daughter, faces a connected Public Order Act charge for engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace, the Dublin Children’s Court heard.

Her daughter pleaded guilty and was remanded on bail until a date next month for a pre-sentence probation report to be obtained.

Judge Ann Ryan was told that a garda had been carrying out an arrest when the girl “ran out screaming and shouting, she pushed the garda to stop him arresting the man.”

The court heard that the girl had seven previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Sarah Molloy said the girl had a basic education but was making efforts to find a job.

There had been domestic problems arising from her father’s addiction problems and the incident she was arrested for stemmed from a family feud.

The girl will have to face a further court appearance later this month when she and her teenage sister who was also remanded are to enter pleas to charges for allegedly stealing €2,000 worth of CDs from a HMV music shop in Blanchardstown, in Dublin.

The girl’s mother, who is alleged to have driven a car while intoxicated in front of the entry to the site to block garda access, was remanded on bail to appear again next month to enter pleas.

While she admitted the offences she denied aspects of the garda evidence claiming that during the fight with the other family she had been “attacked by five million of them".