12-year-old's bail plea rejected by judge
A judge today rejected a 12-year-old boy’s plea to be released from a juvenile detention centre where he is being held for psychological and educational assessments.
The boy, who has a history of substance abuse and had been banned from Dublin city centre, had been remanded in custody last week by the Children’s Court at the request of his father.
He has been charged with causing criminal damage at premises on North Lotts, in inner city Dublin, in the early hours of January 26 last. Directions from the DPP are being sought as to whether or not the prosecution is to proceed in light of the boy’s young age.
In January, conditions had been imposed on the boy, one of which barred him from the city centre resulting from concerns about youths he associated with there.
He was also required to obey a 9pm to 7am curfew at his west Dublin home and ordered, at a Garda request, “to remain sober”. He had also been barred from the Ballymun area following a recent arrest there for allegedly travelling with a number of older youths in a stolen car.
But last week, the court ordered that the boy was to be held at the National Remand and Assessment Unit, a detention centre, in Finglas, in Dublin for the four-week assessments to be carried out.
Today, the boy asked Judge Aingeal Ní Chondúin to grant bail. However, defence solicitor Sarah Molloy said the father was consenting for his son to remain in custody for a further three weeks, to complete the assessments.
“I don’t want to complete it,” interjected the boy, who is just over four feet tall. With that his father, spoke up from the back of the courtroom and insisted: “You do.”
“Why can’t I get out today?” the boy responded and added that, if released, he would go to school.
Ms Molloy said the boy had been making “a lot of progress” in custody. “We are hoping that after the assessment a lot of things will be put in place by the HSE.”
Judge Ní Chondúin told the boy he was “well able to talk” but the assessment needed to be completed.
The boy then began haggling with the judge about what date he would have to be brought back in court. When the date was set the judge said to him that he had to work hard and that his plámásing “does not work with me”.
She told him that, following on from his release, he had to work hard at “staying out of court”. The boy. who had been whistling quietly. clapped his hands and retorted: “If you let me out today I will.”
He was then remanded back into custody for a further three weeks. Previously, a case had been brought to the High Court which resulted in a guardian being appointed to help the boy, a school place being found and other supports put in place.
Ms Molloy had also said that the boy’s court-appointed guardian believed that “an assessment would be helpful”.
And at an earlier stage in the case, the judge had heard the boy “had been completely out of control, out of school and there were huge concerns in terms of substance abuse”.
