The "shambles" which was the juvenile criminal justice system meant that the High Court would have to order the detention of a 14-year-old boy in St Patrick's Institution, Mr Justice Kelly said yesterday.
He pointed out that the District Court had sentenced the boy to two years' detention in Oberstown Boys' Centre, but there was no place there for the boy and no indication of when a place might be available. In those circumstances, he had to continue the boy's detention in St Patrick's.
The boy had been detained at the National Assessment and Remand Centre (NARC) in Dublin, but had escaped from there a number of times. After he again escaped on Wednesday night, he was detained in St Patrick's.
In the High Court yesterday, lawyers for the Northern Area Health Board, the State and the boy asked the judge to return the boy to the NARC rather than continue his detention at St Patrick's.
The deputy director of the NARC, Mr Danny Lynch, said it would take the boy back but could not guarantee that he would not escape again. The centre was not secure, but the boy had settled there. He agreed that the boy had returned voluntarily to the centre when he had escaped previously.
Mr Justice Kelly said the case was "another example of the shambles that is the juvenile criminal justice system". This was a boy of 14 with an enormous list of criminal convictions. There was an order for his detention at Oberstown, but there was no place for him there. That was not unusual.
The judge said the boy's security could not be guaranteed if he was returned to the NARC. This was not a criticism of the centre, which was never designed to be a secure unit. He had no reason to believe that the boy would not escape again. St Patrick's Institution was designed for older offenders, but at least it was secure. The boy was manifestly vulnerable and got involved in gangs or groups.
He ordered that the boy should remain in St Patrick's until June 22nd, when he wanted to hear evidence from St Patrick's on his progress and from the State on when a place would be available at Oberstown. If a place became available at Oberstown in the mean time, the boy should go there.