Teenager attempted getaway drive across the Midlands; Gardaí caught him in Mullingar

Judge John O’Connor accepted the 17-year-old boy had “significant issues” and adjourned sentencing until a date in March to see if the youth takes up a training course placement recently found for him.

He pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court to theft of a Renault Traffic Van from a house in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, on March 14, 2017. Another youth who stole the Audi house during the burglary in Boyle is currently serving a sentence.

Judge John O’Connor heard that Gardaí gave pursuit and the two vehicles were seen driving in convoy near Mullingar in Co. Westmeath.

A stinger device was deployed to stop them but it was avoided and the 16-year-old drove the van across a fly-over and headed back westbound “on the wrong side of the N4”. Gardaí spotted him abandoning the van and running behind a house.

He was arrested and taken to Mullingar Garda station.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because he is a minor, also pleaded guilty to taking part in a burglary at a service station at 4am in Ballybrittas in Co. Laois on Feb. 8, 2017.

Judge O’Connor heard that the shutters were prised open and €1,000 worth of cigarettes were taken as well as several Cadbury cream eggs.

The youth and three others took part in the burglary and the car they used was spotted in Clondalkin in Dublin just over an hour later. All the stolen property was recovered.

Last month he spent a stint in custody after Judge O’Connor noted he had repeatedly broken bail terms which included a curfew.

The judge has said the teenager has been lucky to be included in a bail support scheme unlike most defendants and yet there had been “blatant” breaches of his bail terms.

The teenager was later released and was accompanied to court by his grandmother, his social worker and a bail support youth worker when his case resumed following a four-week adjournment.

His barrister had also told the court that the boy had been recently beaten up in his area but was adamant he wanted to take help offered to him.

At the resumed hearing, counsel said that risk factors identified by the Probation Service – the teen's peer group and lack of an educational placement – may be addressed through a training course placement recently found for him

The court heard that he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder when he was aged eight and he had attended a special centre for “extensive supports”.

The teen also faced a fresh charge relating to a motor theft after the front door to a house in Dublin was broken down and car keys were taken. He has not yet indicated how he will plead to that allegation.

Judge O’Connor warned him he was facing a possible sentence of 18 months and possibly up to two years if convicted on the new charge. “You do not seem to get it,” he told the teen.

He also said he had to deal with the victims of his behaviour and adjourned the case to see how the teenager got on in his new course. "I'm trying my best," the boy said.