No bed for Kerry machete-suspect: State grabbles to find accommodation for teenager at ‘very high risk’ of re-offending
The KerrymanThe State had yet to find accommodation for a teenager charged with wielding two machetes, Tralee District Court heard this week.
The teenager, who cannot be named due to his young age, is scheduled to be sentenced at Killarney District Court on Monday for charges related to the alleged assault of another male at Tralee Community Training Centre in Monavalley.
“What jumps out at me is very high risk of re-offending and no place for him to go if he is released,” said Judge David Waters.
The teenager appeared in court by video-link from Oberstown Children Detention Campus, a facility for children aged 10 to 17 in the north of County Dublin, where he has stayed since his first court appearance on September 24.
His initial charges included assault, possession of an offensive weapon, and the production of an article intended to cause injury in a dispute on September 23.
In September, it was alleged in court that the defendant attacked a former friend with two machetes at the Tralee campus, causing students to flee in fear for their safety.
The State is required to have accommodation immediately available in the event he is found not guilty, given suspended sentences or given backdated sentences of equal or lesser time to the period he has already spent in custody.
The State is searching “at a national level” for suitable accommodation, a youth social worker told the court.
The planned accommodation was declined, in part due to a concern that undesirable people would come to the accommodation.
“Due to the risk, the placement was refused,” the representative told the court.
The agency had offered to provide added security but “there was no appeasing the residential services”.
She added, “They’re reviewing what’s available nationally”.
An after-care worker is assigned to the teen and developing a plan with him for his release.
The judge addressed the defendant directly to ensure he understood.
He reminded him: “You’d have to do what the [Child and Family Agency] tell you to do”.
In September, the court heard that when living in State care, the accused had gone ‘missing’ 114 times, including 26 times in 2025 and seven times that month.
The probation report said he appeared remorseful and co-operative, solicitor Pádraig O’Connell told the court.
The judge expressed optimism that the defendant could work with probation services.
He was remanded in custody until Monday, February 9.