Judge calls for urgent action on juvenile supervision orders after Temple Bar attack

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Judge Pauline Codd called for urgent action on juvenile supervision orders while sentencing a 16-year-old boy for his part in an attack on four English tourists in Dublin’s Temple Bar. The proceedings were reported on 20 March 2024.

The boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault causing harm. Judge Codd imposed three years’ detention for violent disorder and two years for assault causing harm, to run concurrently. She directed that he receive credit for any time spent in detention on the matter.

Judge Codd said supervision orders for juveniles were unenforceable after they turned 18 and that the court’s hands were “effectively tied” on supervision. She said the issue needed to be addressed urgently by the Oireachtas and suggested the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions should take it up.

A garda said officers were called to Temple Bar on 11 August 2023 after a group of tourists was attacked. The garda said the boy joined in after the melee began, punched one victim, pulled another to the ground and kicked and punched him, and stamped on the head of a third man who was already on the ground. The court heard he was not involved in the injuries to the fourth tourist.

The garda accepted that the boy had not instigated the attack and had identified himself when shown CCTV during interview, although he initially denied involvement. Defence counsel Amy Deane said he had been in State care, had ADHD and ODD, and had experienced little supervision in hostel accommodation. The garda did not fully agree with her suggestion that the accommodation was inappropriate for young people.

The boy had 18 previous convictions, including six for assault causing harm. Judge Codd treated those six convictions as an aggravating factor and said the threshold for custodial detention had been passed.