Teen 'institutionalised' by controversial care unit

A 15-year-old boy was left “institutionalised” and unfit for mainstream education after he was detained in a controversial children's care facility, a court heard today.

The boy was before the Children's Court where he pleaded guilty to possessing two stolen car radio sets, in Ballyfermot, in Dublin, on April 9 last year. Garda Ann Irwin told Judge Ann Ryan that the boy “refused to give comments on where he got the two radios.”