A nine-year-old boy charged with the suspected mugging of two teenagers, walked free yesterday after a robbery charge against him was dropped.
Garda Michelle McGuinness ,of Tallaght station in Dublin, told Judge Patrick Clyne that the Director of Public Prosecutions had ordered that the charge against the boy should be withdrawn.
Garda McGuinness said that the victims had withdrawn their statements against the boy. Judge Clyne consented to the application to drop the case.
The boy was supported in court by his father. During the brief hearing, the court was told the boy was aged nine, at which the judge said: "he only looks about five."
He had been charged with robbery of a mobile phone and an MP3 player from two teenagers, at the bus terminus, at Belgard Square, in Tallaght, on January 29th last.
The boy, who lives in a halting site, made his first court appearance last month.
He had been arrested at Belgard Walk, in Tallaght, the same area where the alleged offence took place and several miles from his home, at 11.40 on the night of February 18th last.