Boy, 16, faces court for possessing €180,000 worth of heroin

A 16-year-old boy arrested in December in connection with a €180,000 heroin seizure was today served with a book of evidence and sent forward for trial to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The boy, who cannot be identified because he is a juvenile, had been charged earlier at the Children’s Court with possessing heroin for sale or supply, at an address in Clondalkin, in Dublin, on a date last December.

Another more serious charge has been brought under Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act for possessing drugs worth over €13,000.

The case has been held to be too serious to be kept in the Children’s Court and must be heard in the Circuit Court, which can on conviction impose lengthier sentences

The boy, who is on conditional bail which includes a curfew to be in his home between 8pm and 7am, was served with the book of evidence today.

Judge Patrick McMahon explained to the teenager that if he wished to use an alibi as part of his defence he must give the details to the State within two weeks. He explained the meaning of an alibi to the boy who indicated he did not understand.

An order was then made sending the case to be listed at the present term of the Circuit Court.

He granted legal aid for both junior and senior counsel to defend the teenager in light of the seriousness of the allegations.

The court had heard that he has been out of school for the last two years and amount of heroin involved in the drugs’ prosecution was worth about €180,000.

Earlier in the case it was revealed that the Health Service Executive had previously tried to offer the teen help by taking him into voluntary care but his mother refused.

An assessment of him had shown he had “a cognitive level at a very low age” which made him extremely vulnerable.

There were difficulties in relation to the boy’s mother and “it was hoped she might have exerted greater control,” the court had also heard. The Probation Service had also been working with the boy and at one point was investigating the possibility of him being fostered.

The boy, who was accompanied to court by his mother, also faces sentence on a later date in the Children’s Court for separate Public Order Act offences.