Tom Tuite
A then 14-year-old Dublin boy, who was spending a “phenomenal” amount of money on drugs, has been given a six-month sentence for stealing a bicycle.
The boy, now aged 15, pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court to unlawfully having bolt cutters and theft which took place on a date last May.
Garda Neill Byrne told Judge Deirdre Gearty that the €550 bicycle was locked outside a supermarket in north Dublin.
The youth and another person came along with bolt cutters, cut the lock off and stole the bike. CCTV identified the teenager. The bicycle was not recovered.
Prior convictions
The boy had a total of 19 prior convictions and was detained in March for two months for a range of other offences including drug dealing. The court had then heard how at the age of 13, the boy had been caught with more than €3,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine in his bedroom.
He claimed he was selling drugs to fund his own addiction, the court heard.
Counsel pleaded with the court not to add to the teen’s existing sentence.
Barrister Alison Fynes asked Judge Gearty to note the boy pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. She submitted that a pre-sentence report indicated the teen has been getting on well in custody and linking in with services to assist him.
Drug spending
Judge Gearty was furnished with a probation report and she remarked that he was “spending a phenomenal amount on drugs”.
There was no offer of compensation for the injured party, she noted. She described the assessment report of the boy as moderate and she noted it did not offer insight into remorse.
She imposed a six-month sentence on the boy who was accompanied to court by a family member.
At his previous hearing last month, the juvenile court heard that how the teenager had got caught up in the drug scene and culture which was at the root of his offending.
The boy, from the city’s north-side, had then pleaded guilty to possessing drugs for both personal use and for supply, and theft in Dublin in 2019 and last year. Prior to that hearing he already had 10 prior convictions.
In December last year, he was placed on 12 months’ supervised probation on condition he remained drug free and went to school and accepted help to divert him from crime.
On that occasion, he had been convicted of two counts of burglary, thefts, criminal damage and two robberies.
