Judge rules pregnant teenager must live with mother after breaking bail conditions
A pregnant teenage girl accused of theft has been released from custody but must live with her mother after a judge refused to let a man claiming to be her uncle stand bail.
The 16-year-old girl spent the past two weeks in custody for repeatedly breaking bail terms set down by the Dublin Children’s Court.
Last week, she renewed her application seeking to be released to reside with the man who came to court offering to stand bail. Neither of her parents was present for the case.
However, Judge John O'Connor refused unless a court order in relation to her care was available. He also insisted a parent had to attend the proceedings.
When the girl's mother arrived at the court, the judge heard the girl still wanted to go to the man's address which the judge refused.
When she agreed to reside with her mother, the judge remanded her on bail to appear again later this month.
She is accused of stealing a €350 phone from a man at Dame Court, in Dublin, on April 6 last.
The teen also has a charge under the Casual Trading Act for unlawfully selling goods in a public place without a permit.
It is also alleged she stole cash and a phone from another man on a date in March at Anglesea Street, in Dublin city centre.
Earlier, she had been granted bail on condition she abided by a 10pm to 6am curfew and stayed out of the Dublin 2 area, where the alleged offences occurred. However, she had broken all these terms which led to her being detained.
Judge O'Connor reinstated these bail terms when he released the teen.
The man claiming to be her uncle, a foreign national living in Dublin, has come to her hearings and told the court the girl had been living at his house.
Judge John O’Connor noted last week that this man has accompanied other teenage defendants to the same court for their cases.
Parents or guardians must attend proceedings at the Children's Court, he had said.
The girl claimed her mother could not come to court last week because she had to look after other children.
Pleading for bail, defence counsel, had said prior to going into custody the teen, who cannot be named because she is a minor, had moved to her uncle’s address.
However, Judge O’Connor said the man had no legal standing in relation to the girl. He needed to see a court order or a parent had to come to the proceedings for bail to be granted.
