Eoghan McGowan (29) was a serving garda member when he assaulted the 17-year-old boy, who was in the care of the State at the time.

Mr Justice John Jordan said the boy’s “extraordinary progress” in a matter of weeks is a “testament to what can be achieved” when children get a place in one of the State’s three “special care” units

A boy who should be detained in secure State care on foot of a High Court order is hearing voices encouraging him to kill and harm others, a judge has been told

The CFA had been forced to apply for the detention order for the teen, when he was aged 14, last December.

Repeated disappearances of children has sparked calls for better controls to ensure that they are safe and protected