Boy nearly mowed down Oxegen revellers

A 15-year-old boy nearly mowed down revellers at last year's Oxegen music festival and was later caught at the event fighting while armed with a knife , the Dublin Children's Court has heard.

The boy has been granted bail but ordered to attend drug and alcohol addiction counselling and warned he must not use any motor vehicle, or he risks custody. “Not even a ride on lawn mower,” Judge Elizabeth MacGrath told the teen.

The west Dublin boy pleaded guilty to a spate of charges, for driving stolen vehicles, possessing a knife, shoplifting and public order offences, which occurred over a one-year period starting in July last year, at the popular festival.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath was told that on July 11, 2009 there had been numerous pedestrians on a road near the event at Punchestown Racecourse, in Nass, Co. Kildare.

The teenager drove dangerously along the same road and “pedestrians had to jump into a ditch” to avoid being hit.

Later that evening, the security guards there restrained the teenager after “he had been in a fight with other males and produced a knife, a Swiss army four inch blade.”

Garda Gearoid O'Brien said that on November 12 last year, the teenager led gardaí on a high speed pursuit, in west Dublin. The car, which had been taken during the course of a burglary, was driven by the boy “at excessive speeds in Tallaght, until it “skidded and crashed into a fence.”

On September 21 last year the boy was caught in west Dublin driving a stolen moped.

On January 23 last, he was arrested under the Public Order Act when he reacted violently to gardaí who had responded to reports of males fighting in a housing estate in Rathfarnham, in Dublin.

Judge MacGrath heard that on at 6.30am on a date last February the boy was again arrested under the Public Order Act when garda arrived to deal with an “incident which was getting out of hand.”

In April he was arrested and charged for breach of the peace and being intoxicated in public.

On July 17 last, he stole €50 worth of goods from a clothes shop on Dublin's Henry Street.

Counsel defending said his client, who had no prior criminal convictions, had been on remand for the past four weeks, and a probation report had been furnished.

It was submitted by the defence barrister that there were “issues over the absence of a father figure in his life.”

He said that the pre-sentence report suggested releasing the teen on bail with strict conditions for him to liaise with other agencies in his community.

Judge MacGrath said that the boy had put others “at serious risk” but agreed to grant bail pending sentence.

The boy's mother assured the judge that her son would be indoors from 7pm each evening.

As conditions of his bail, the teenager, who thanked the judge, was ordered to obey a 7pm to 8am curfew at his home, sign on daily at his local garda station, “not to drive any mechanically propelled vehicle, scooters, cars not even a ride on lawn mower.”

He was remanded to appear later this month and also ordered to attend substance abuse counselling, a Garda youth crime diversion project and meetings with the Probation and Welfare Service.