Teenager gets chance to avoid sentence; Judge calls Jobstown protest an 'attack on the State'

An anti-Irish Water demonstration was held which delayed her for about two hours.

She and her team had been attempting to travel by car to St Thomas's Church, a short distance away, for the rest of the ceremony. Gardaí allege protesters surrounded the car, tried to “get in at” the Labour leader and there were a number of violent incidents during which officers were pushed and missiles thrown.

In the boy's case today at the Dublin Children's Court, Judge John O'Connor said the purpose of violence towards women is to humiliate them and erode their dignity and violence directed at women in politics “is to limit their effectiveness in the political process, to alienate them and to state they are not welcome in politics”.

“It should also be pointed out that this particular attack on the elected Tánaiste of Ireland is an attack on the Irish State,” he said, adding that it was also an attack on gardaí who were protecting Joan Burton.

However, he noted that the teenager, who had been on drugs, has expressed regret and had recently shown a willingness to engage with the Probation Service. He said the boy should be commended for that, and he deferred sentencing until March to allow the teenager remain under further supervision.

He told the boy, who has “significant behavioural” problems that if he continued to co-operate he will be sentenced to a period of probation supervision but failure to do so would result in a six-month sentence.

The boy, now aged 16, but who was 15 at the time of the incident, was in court with his mother and a grandparent. After pleading guilty to criminal damage to the rear window of unmarked garda car and violent disorder charges, the court heard he has prior convictions for theft and was currently serving a sentence which will expire in January.

Defence solicitor Michelle Finan had said psychological and welfare assessments described him as “most vulnerable”. He required “therapeutic support but refused to engage” and had been hospitalised 14 times in the last two years with serious injuries.

A report stated he had “significant emotional and behavioural difficulties” prompting mental health concerns. Judge John O'Connor said the teen's other issues included: negative peers, anti-social incidents, involvement with pro-criminal gangs and drug issues.

He noted from a pre-sentence welfare report that the teenager “recalled he saw the Garda helicopter hovering near to where he was with friends that afternoon. He decided to see what was happening and went to the Fortunestown Road, where he saw a large crowd gathered. He observed the crowd shouting and pushing and that a number of people were throwing eggs. There was a large Garda presence and he quickly became wound up by the atmosphere. He got some eggs from a shop nearby and copied the behaviour of other crowd members, pushing, shouting and throwing eggs. He became agitated and kicked and jumped on the Garda car, damaging the window. The defendant states he was under the influence of tablets and cannabis that day.”

The court heard he “now understands that the people trapped in the car would have been afraid as there was a lot of aggression and shouting at them. He further stated that the Gardaí were surrounding the car and that it would have been very stressful for them to be in the middle of a large crowd, where things were thrown at them. However, he is also of the view that it is the Gardaí's job to be in such situations.”.

The judge said that violent disorder is an aggressive form of bullying involving three or more people. He went on to say that among teens where bullying and violence are common, violence is often linked to drugs, poverty, inadequate education, lack of fewer perceived opportunities, poor attachment to family and school and lack of supports generally.

“Apart from the offer of supports, the defendant sadly fits all too neatly into this category,” he said.

He said the boy had a significant number of previous convictions and knew full well that the incidents were an attempt to humiliate and put in fear.

He said the teenager knew full well that one of the occupants of the car was the Tánaiste, however he accepted that the boy got “caught up in the events of the violence, that the events of the day created its own momentum for him, that he was not the ring leader and that his own particular circumstances made him a soft target to get caught up in the violence.”

The court heard that the boy has not had regular contact with his father in some time. His mother believed her son was always energetic but following the break-up of his parents' relationship, he became problematic and difficult to manage; he was described in reports as “controlling and abusive towards his mother if doesn't get his own way”.

She was unable to cope with him and he accessed emergency hostel accommodation before a grandparent took him in and looked after him. Despite having issues about the teenager's defiant attitude and rule breaking, the grandparent, described by Judge O'Connor as “very decent and honourable”, is willing to take the boy back when he gets released from custody.

Judge O'Connor said that international practices and Irish law state that detention of juveniles must be used as a last resort and must promote rehabilitation and re-integration in to the community.

He stressed that his comments were confined only to the boy's case and did not relate to other connected proceedings in which defendants have the presumption of innocence.

Five other youths aged from 14 to 17 face a variety of charges in the juvenile court including criminal damage and violent disorder. One of them faces two counts of false imprisonment of Joan Burton and political advisor Karen O'Connell who were in a ministerial car which was surrounded by protesters. Their trial venue has yet to be decided and they will appear again at the Children's Court next month.

Meanwhile Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy faced Dublin District Court earlier this month charged with false imprisonment of Joan Burton and her advisor.

Eighteen other adults are also charged with a variety of offences: false imprisonment, criminal damage and violent disorder in connection with the alleged incident.

The DPP has also directed they should face trial on indictment in the circuit court which has tougher sentencing powers.

The TD, who has vowed to fight the case, and the adult co-defendants have been ordered to appear again at the district court next month when it is expected they will be served with books of evidence and returned for trial.