Court hears 15-year-old travelled from Dublin to Tipperary for 'sophisticated' burglary
A then 15-year-old boy was arrested over a sophisticated burglary after he was followed from Dublin to Tipperary by an undercover Garda special crime task force, a court has heard.
The boy, now aged 16, was caught following a surveillance operation involving the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and an Emergency Response Unit, the Dublin Children’s Court was told today.
The boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, was charged with burglary, theft a €25,000 car and criminal damage at a house in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary on March 23, 2018.
In an outline of the prosecution evidence for the purpose of deciding the teen's trial venue, Det Garda Liam Brennan said gardai were in possession of confidential information about organised crime activities, “namely burglaries”.
It was alleged a high performance Audi S3 car with Northern Ireland registration plates was being used and was being kept at a location in Co. Kildare.
A surveillance operation was set up.
It was alleged the Audi was followed and seen changing its registration plates in a lane-way before it was followed along the N7 to Nenagh.
It was alleged the boy and another person got out and went to the back of a row of houses while the Audi stayed in the area.
Det Garda Brennan said there was nobody in the house when it was burgled.
The rear patio door was broken before keys to a Ford Focus along with some cash were taken.
The car driven away but pulled in at a service station in Birdhill, Tipperary.
It was alleged the boy was filling it with petrol when gardai moved in to the front and rear of the Ford Focus.
The teen ran but was stopped, the court heard.
Cash identified as being taken from the house was found his cap, the court heard.
The registration plates on the Ford and Audi were also changed after the burglary, it was alleged.
The teen was taken to Templemore Garda station where he made no comment when interviewed, Det Garda Brennan said.
Pleading with the court to accept jurisdiction, defence solicitor Jeremy Ring asked the court to note the boy, who is from Dublin, was aged 15 at the time.
He said the teenager had been caught red-handed and was offering to plead guilty.
Mr Ring asked the judge to note the boy's mother, who was present for the hearing, was of the belief her son had undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
He had also been abusing a “large number of different substances” which his mother had been unaware of until he was later drug-tested. He felt shame when she found out, the solicitor said.
The teenager was interested in horses and if that were properly channelled that would be a useful way for him to spend his time, the solicitor said. A placement in a course at an education and training centre in Dublin has been organised for the boy, the court heard.
Refusing jurisdiction, Judge O'Connor described both the offence and the surveillance operation as “very sophisticated”. These type of burglaries were very frightening and all too common in the country-side, he said.
Despite the boy's issues, he held the case was too serious for the Children’s Court.
This means it will be dealt with in the Circuit Court, either in Dublin or in Nenagh, which have tougher sentencing powers.
The boy was remanded on bail to appear again in four weeks to be served with a book of evidence.
