Teen charged with assaulting sick mother remanded in custody and will be assessed

A 15-year-old boy charged with assaulting his sick mother and stealing her medication has been remanded in custody for a 28-day educational and psychological assessment to be carried out.

The boy from north Dublin was charged with theft of medication belonging to his mother, whose condition has not been stated in court, on a date in October. He was also charged with attacking her on the same date and again on January 4 last.

The young boy, who has been attending a doctor at a north Dublin child and family clinic, also faces charges for attacking his father and his teenage sister at their home earlier this month as well as breach of the peace.

Last week the teenager was given strict bail with him being ordered to accept guidance from a youth worker, who was in court, attend school, reside at his home, to be of good behaviour there, obey a curfew between 11pm and 7am and not to “interfere with witnesses”. He had also been ordered to be of good behaviour in his home.

However, today Garda Brendan Edery told the court he arrested the boy for a breach of the peace at his home in the early hours of this morning. Objecting to bail, he said that “from our perspective we would not like to see him going home in his current condition”.

“We would like to see some kind of psychiatric help whether that is in a residential placement” or he added in custody “in St Michael's”, the National Remand and Assessment Unit, a juvenile detention centre in Finglas, in Dublin.

Defence solicitor Mr Garreth Noble said the boy’s behaviour had not been directed at his family. He had got angry following a row with his girlfriend.

He said that the boy wanted to return home and his parents would allow him to if he obeyed the house rules.

He also said that the boy intended to return to school after being absent for a number of months and would continue to attend his appointments at the child and family clinic.

Social services have been working with the teenager, who was accompanied to court by his parents, the court heard.

Judge Ann Ryan, who had been furnished with a social work report, said that a thorough assessment of the teenager could assist social services’ efforts to provide him with the necessary help.

She remanded the teenager in custody to the National Remand and Assessment Unit, to allow the assessments to begin but stressed to him that she was not doing so as a form of punishment.

The boy’s mother told the court that she was “finding it very difficult at the moment” which had led her to seek treatment for her son.