The High Court has refused to halt the prosecution of S.B. over alleged violent disorder and assault causing harm arising from an incident on Henry Street, Dublin, despite finding that delays in the case breached his constitutional right to trial with due expedition.
Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan delivered judgment on 20 July 2026. S.B. was 16 years old at the time of the alleged incident on 22 February 2022 but was not charged until November 2024, after he had turned 18.
The prosecution alleges that a group attacked an injured party, LM, following an altercation involving eggs being thrown at or near a homeless man. S.B. is alleged to have been within the attacking group, although he denied personally assaulting LM when interviewed.
Four co-accused from the same incident who remained under 18 were dealt with in the Children Court. S.B. argued that the delay caused him to lose the opportunity to have his case dealt with there under section 75 of the Children Act 2001, along with child-specific anonymity, sentencing protections and a maximum 12-month custodial sentence on summary disposal.
The judge accepted that the delay was excessive and blameworthy. S.B. had been identified from CCTV in August 2022 and interviewed in February 2023, leaving more than six months before his eighteenth birthday, yet the case was not completed within the child justice process.
However, the court found that the evidence only established a realistic possibility, rather than a probability, that the Children Court would have accepted jurisdiction in his case. His alleged role also potentially differed from that of other accused.
Phelan J said the charges concern serious alleged group violence in a public place and there was no suggestion that evidence had been lost or S.B.'s ability to defend himself had been impaired.
The prosecution may therefore continue in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Existing restrictions preventing publication of material likely to identify S.B. remain in force pending a further order.