Judge blames father for daughter's theft crimes
A judge has blamed a Romanian man for his daughter’s theft crimes and being in a position where her “only qualification is three convictions”.
The 17-year-old girl, who has been living in Ireland with her family for seven years, pleaded guilty to two thefts at the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
Judge Conal Gibbons heard at the Dublin Children’s Court that the girl stole make-up and perfume on April 16 last and two months later, stole a handbag.
The unemployed girl had been given the Probation Act previously for a similar offence.
The judge then quizzed the girl’s father about what he had been doing to control his daughter. The father said that he had been on holiday in Romania when the thefts occurred.
The judge then enquired as to why the girl had left school. The girl replied, via an interpreter, that she was unable to do the work, because she was not taught English, and also claimed she had been bullied by other schoolchildren.
“I went every day but I did not understand anything. I was harassed by other kids, bullied.”
The judge said he believed the girl would have been entitled to tuition in English.
The girl’s father claimed “they kept postponing and kept saying that they were going to do it”.
Judge Gibbons said the girl was not to blame for the thefts; she had no education and was “wandering around the shopping centre and sees the baubles of the modern age”.
When further questioned, the father, who is unemployed, said he was interested in getting his daughter enrolled on a training course.
Pressed as to what he had done in that regard, he claimed he went to his social welfare office to make enquiries.
The judge replied: “You did in my hat.”
He also criticised the father for being out of the country and leaving the girl without any control.
Judge Gibbons said: “She now has three convictions for theft that is the only qualification your daughter has as a result of her seven years here.”
“I put the blame entirely on you,” he added, directing himself to her father, who apologised for his daughter’s actions.
Judge Gibbons said the girl needed assistance and remanded her on bail until September to allow time for a pre-sentence probation report to be furnished.
