Boys may face Circuit Court trial after gas cylinder allegedly used as weapon in Dublin petrol station

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recommended that two boys aged 14 and 15 should be tried at Circuit Court level over a serious criminal damage incident at a Dublin filling station where a gas cylinder was allegedly used as a weapon.

The two boys, who cannot be named publicly because they are minors, appeared before Judge Bernadette Owens at Dublin Children's Court.

They were charged with criminal damage at Circle K, on the Greenhills Road, Tallaght on January 6 last.

They were also charged with producing a gas cylinder as a weapon during the same incident.

Detective Garda David Jennings said the DPP recommended the pair should be tried on indictment, meaning in the Circuit Court where they could face lengthier sentences if convicted.

The boys’ lawyers can make submissions pleading for the case to be kept in the Children’s Court.

Judge Owens adjourned the case to allow their solicitors consider evidence handed over in disclosure by Detective Garda Jennings.

It included statements and CCTV evidence.

They will appear again next month for a preliminary hearing to decide their trial venue.

Legal aid was granted to the boys who were accompanied to court by parents.

They were ordered not to have any contact with staff in the shop and to sign on once a week at their local garda station.

They were also banned from having any contact with each other for the duration of the case.