Court anger over lack of remand bed for boy (15)

A District Court judge has highlighted the lack of ‘remand beds’ being made available to young offenders from the West of Ireland, who can neither be released on bail nor housed in an adult prison as they await trial.

Judge Mary Fahy was speaking in relation to a boy (15), who was one of the youths arrested for the alleged intimidation of foreign students in Knocknacarra last summer.

“It should be highlighted that the West of Ireland is entitled to get remand beds for juveniles,” she said.

“We have a busy juvenile court here, and it just seems that the Dublin courts are getting priority.”

Two days earlier the boy had appeared before her for breaching his bail. He was released into the custody of his mother, while a remand bed was awaited.

Two days later, Garda David Murphy sought an arrest warrant for the boy, as he had again breached his curfew, had been drinking, and was mixing with named individuals that he had been told to stay away from. His mother told the court when that she had been unable to control him.

“There’s a huge risk to this boy, and to others like him,” Judge Fahy said.

“He’s in and out of court, and disobeying all sanctions of the court and Gardaí … the court is being thwarted by not being supplied with remand beds. We can’t remand a juvenile to an adult prison, but there is nowhere else to put him.

“We had this difficulty before, a few months ago but, by sheer determination, it worked out. The Dublin courts seem to get priority over the courts outside Dublin. We seem to always be at the bottom of the list. We badly need services in the West of Ireland.”

The Judge urged the Probation Services to keep trying to get a remand bed for the boy, but the Probation Officer advised the system did not allow her to book the next available bed, that she has to ring up every morning to check availability.

With no other choice, the boy was again remanded on bail, but this time into the care of a foster family he was familiar with in rural County Galway.

The conditions are that he stays out of the city, except for court appearances; observes a curfew from 9pm-8am; and stays away from named individuals.