'Fagin’s Law' fails to stop gangs luring children

Those found guilty of the offences could face imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction, and up to five years on indictment.

Just 17 criminal proceedings have been brought against people suspected of grooming children into criminal activity, despite the so-called Fagin’s Law being introduced nearly two years ago.

The legislation came into force in the wake of high-profile instances of youngsters being led astray and, in some instances, to tragic ends.

The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act 2024 —  known as Fagin’s Law in reference to the character in Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist who recruits children as thieves — was introduced in May 2024 .

It makes it an offence for an adult to either force or encourage children to engage in criminal activity.

Those found guilty of the offences could face imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction, and up to five years on indictment.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD Tom Brabazon, said 17 summons or charges have been initiated since the commencement of the legislation.

It is not clear how many convictions have been secured. 

Critics of the legislation cast doubt on it at the time it was introduced, saying it was vague and difficult to prove.

The law came after successive national drug strategies recommended the measure, given the issues around the grooming of children as young as eight to engage in couriering and dealing drugs.

Keane Mulready-Woods case 

Youngsters enticed by organised crime figures to do their bidding have long been a concern for communities, and the nation was shocked in 2020 when Keane Mulready-Woods, 17, was murdered.

Some of the boy’s dismembered body parts were found in a holdall in Coolock in Dublin on January 13, a day after he was last seen. 

Two days later, his head, hands, and feet were found in a burning car in Drumcondra.

Mr O’Callaghan said that each of the 17 cases cited “an offence of compel, coerce, direct, or deceive a child to cause them to engage in criminal activity”.

Mr Brabazon, Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman and a solicitor, said the number of people against whom proceedings have been brought is “very low”.

He said: “I could drive around and see masked teenagers or kids in my constituency — I could see at least 17 of them a day.”

Young people groomed into criminal activity by gangs are lured by “an attractive lifestyle”, he said, but “what we have to remember is that that lifestyle is usually short-lived and is not something that goes on”.

Last July, a report published by the Department of Justice noted that a “small number of offences” under the act have been brought before the courts since it was enacted.

The review bore out caution from critics at the time it was introduced that offences are hard to prove.

Before the introduction of the legislation, Mecpaths, an organisation which works to raise awareness of child trafficking in Ireland, raised concerns about the law.

Its network and communications manager, JP O’Sullivan, told the Irish Examiner: “We had maintained at the time that the central piece requiring the child to give evidence against the accused would be challenging, considering the high percentage of the children who have a familial connection to the adults involved.

“We would still be in the same position. Whilst there is a primary legislative provision in the child trafficking front, this secondary piece speaks less to the seriousness of the exploitation and provides for a lesser charge and ‘lower hanging fruit’ to be explored. It diminishes the harm but could potentially support the state in achieving an easier prosecution.

I would think that whilst the criminal justice lens continues to be at the fore, the child rights piece slips backwards.

Last year, a report from the Blanchardstown Drug and Alcohol Taskforce outlined that children as young as seven have been acting as drug runners for the illegal drugs trade in the area.

It found: “The norm age for drug runners is 12, and the youngest age is seven years. The norm age for drug dealers is 15, and the youngest age is 12.”

In Kerry in recent years, a man was jailed for drug dealing after he, his partner, and young children were searched by gardaí. Heroin deals were found in one of the children’s schoolbags.