Teen 'bullied' parents for drugs money

A 17-Year-old boy who bullied his parents into giving him drug money has been readmitted to bail on condition that he no longer intimidates or threatens them.

The out-of-school boy, from north Dublin, had been remanded in custody by the Children’s Court last week after his mother and father refused to take him home. He is facing a charge for vandalising his family home, to which he has entered a guilty plea.

His solicitor Sarah Molloy said today: “On the last date his parents were not willing to take him home. There has been a long history of difficulties with his behaviour.”

She said that assessments of the boy have been carried out which found he had “receptive language difficulties” for which he had been offered counselling but refused to attend.

The teen had been abusing cannabis which his parents felt had an adverse affect on his behaviour. After he had spent a week on remand in St Patrick’s Institution his parents, who were in court, agreed to take him home.

However, Judge William Hamill heard that this was only subject to stringent bail conditions being imposed on their son.

Ms Molloy said one of the bail terms sought by the teen’s parents was that there would be not be any verbal intimidation of them.

“One of the most difficult issues is in relation to money. He has been abusing cannabis and has been threatening his parents in relation to that,” she said.

The teen’s mother said a placement on a counselling programme for adolescents with drug addiction problems had been found for him and he would have to attend it.

The boy’s father also indicated to the court that he wanted his son to find employment or a training course within a week.

Judge Hamill agreed to grant bail with these conditions and also added several more.

The boy was ordered to obey a nightly curfew to be in his home between 9pm and 7.30am, sign on daily at his local Garda station, not to threaten his parents and attend appointments with the Probation Service.

The boy said he understood the conditions and was warned that by breaching them he would be sent back into custody. “Your fate is in your hands,” he warned the boy, who was remanded to appear again next month for sentencing.