Teen gang carried out series of muggings

A 15-year-old boy faces sentence in October for his role in a gang which carried out a series of muggings near student accommodation areas last year.

The juvenile, who cannot be named due to his age, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to five robbery charges which all occurred on the same date.

He pleaded guilty to robbing a girl of her iPhone 5s and €50 cash at Castlelawn Heights, Headford Road, on September 3 last year and to robbing another girl of €22 cash on the same date in the same area.

He also pleaded guilty to robbing another girl of her iPhone 6s and €30 cash at Dun na Coiribe, Headford Road; and to robbing two young men of a Sony Xperia phone worth €520, an iPhone 6s, a Hugo Boss watch and a wallet, in separate muggings at Gort na Coiribe, also on the same date.

The youth’s grandfather, who had previously lodged €700 in court as an independent surety and had allowed him to live with him as part of his bail conditions, wrote a letter to the court this week which stated he no longer wanted his grandson to live with him.

The elderly man told the court he had no objection to the €700 bail continuing for his grandson, but he no longer wanted him in his home.

Defence barrister, John Hogan, said the youth accepted his grandfather’s wishes.  He said the youth had a good relationship with his older brother and he could stay with him instead.

Mr Hogan said the youth had been abiding by bail conditions which had been set by the High Court, in that he regularly signed on three times a week at his local Garda station and had observed a nightly curfew imposed from 7pm to 8am.

Following further submissions from Mr Hogan and with no objections from the State, Judge Brian O’Callaghan relaxed the curfew to 8pm, and directed the youth could now stay with his older brother.

He remanded the youth on continuing bail, while approving his grandfather as his independent surety, to appear back before the court again in October for sentence.

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