Portlaoise Court: Teenagers terrorising towns in Laois says Judge

A DISTRICT court judge has criticised the government for the lack of custodial facilities for young offenders.

At last Thursday's sitting of the children's court in Portlaoise, Judge Andrew Cody remanded two boys aged 14 and 16 for a week in Oberstown Children's Detention Centre.

The following day, Garda Austin Cleere, who transported the youths to the detention centre, returned to court and told Judge Cody that he had been stopped at the gates of the facility and informed by the governor that no beds were available for the two and that they had been held in custody overnight in Abbeyleix Garda Station.

On hearing this, Judge Cody said: “The government of Ireland under the constitution is divided into three separate branches, they are effectively the Oireachtas, the cabinet and the judiciary. One of the most basic duties of a government, and that includes all three branches, is to keep the public safe.” 

He went on to say: “Juvenile crimes are on the rise in Ireland and we are currently in the grip of an epidemic of car thefts by teenagers, which has clearly spread to Laois and the surrounding counties. Young male teenagers, such as the two accused in these cases, are terrorising not just parts of Dublin but also towns like Portlaoise, Portarlington, Kildare and Newbridge.

“There is a core to this gang here in Portlaoise," said Judge Cody, "who continue to commit crimes without any fear of recrimination. They do so because they know that it is the courts, the gardaí and society that has been handcuffed, while they walk free.” 

He said: “The government, in the sense of the legislature and the cabinet, are failing in their most basic duty, that is their duty to protect the citizens of this state. Before it is too late, it is now time for the government to urgently tackle this crisis before another innocent citizen is killed on the roads by these gangs.” 

*Full story in this week’s edition of the Laois Nationalist