Teenager remanded after sentencing hearing for attempted murder

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

An unnamed teenager pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Stephanie Ng at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 31 July 2019.

The attack took place at Sea Front, Queen’s Road, Dun Laoghaire, on 23 December 2017. The teenager had met Ms Ng through the Whisper social media app and attacked her during their first face-to-face meeting, choking her unconscious and slashing her neck with a knife.

At the sentencing hearing, consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Richard Church said the teenager posed a high ongoing risk of violence to others, with the potential to be life-changing or fatal. He said the risk was lower in the teenager’s current environment at Oberstown Detention Centre. Among the factors he considered were several years of unsupervised access to extreme pornography and unknown contact with the dark web.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Patrick Gageby SC, Dr Church agreed that the teenager’s parents believed the antidepressant Fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, was relevant to why he committed the offence.

Mr Justice Michael White remanded the teenager in custody until 7 October 2019, when the defence was due to present its case.