Secure care unit found for 15 year old offender

by Paul Murphy
A 15-year-old boy whose case had been at the centre of criticism by a district court judge has now been found a place in a secure care unit, Trim District Court was told today. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been held at Oberstown Youth Detention Centre for three weeks after he was charged with alleged criminal damage and possession of weapons. When  he appeared at Trim Court last week, Judge Conal Gibbons had criticised the Child and Family Agency Tusla for failing to find a care placement for him. The judge had said that it was beyond belief that he had been told a number of weeks in succession that there was still no care placement for him and he found it unreasonable and unacceptable that the State could not provide a place. When the case again came before Trim Court today, a solicitor for Tusla said that the agency had today made a successful application before Judge David Keane in the High Court who made an order that the boy be accommodated in a secure care placement in Limerick. The judge granted bail to the boy to appear at Trim Court again on December 19th and in the meantime Sergeant Tom Mahon told the court that he would ensure the boy was transported to the secure care placement. He also said that the charge of alleged criminal damage against the boy was being withdrawn.