Gardaí have launched an international inquiry via diplomatic channels on the authenticity of documentation concerning a Somalian youth accused of murdering Ukrainian teenager Vadym Davydenko in care in Dublin.
The youth, aged 17 according to his charge, appeared at the Children’s Court on Tuesday when the case was adjourned pending directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
His earlier two hearings saw him surrounded by gardaí in helmets and protective gear. However, those measures were not required at his latest court appearance, his first conducted via video link from a juvenile remand facility.
During proceedings he said: “I want to know about the evidence from Brussels”, after Judge Paul Kelly was informed that gardaí have contacted Somalian authorities via the embassy in Belgium.
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Vadym Davydenko (17) was stabbed during an incident at about 11am on October 16th at a 24-hour facility in an apartment building in Donaghmede.
He had been placed there alongside other young people separated from their families and seeking international protection.
Earlier in the proceedings, an order was made that the accused would receive urgent psychiatric and medical attention.
At his third court appearance, Det Sgt Mark Quill asked for a four-week adjournment. He told Judge Kelly that the case file was at an advanced stage, but that important postmortem and forensic reports were still awaited.
Dressed in a red pullover, black pants and white gloves, the accused, in a video link room at the Oberstown Detention Campus in Dublin, engaged with the proceedings with the aid of an interpreter in the courtroom.
Defence counsel Doireann McDonagh told him that this adjournment had been discussed with his solicitor, and that there was consent for the case to go back for four weeks. The accused, who sat fidgeting with his hair during the hearing, confirmed he agreed to an adjournment until December 16th.
Judge Kelly remanded him in continuing custody to appear on that date by video link for the DPP’S directions.
Det Sgt Quill added: “Enquiries remain ongoing in relation to documentation. We have had open dialogue with the Somalian authorities, located in Brussels – that is the embassy we have to go through. They are carrying out enquiries on our behalf; documents have to be verified by the ministry for foreign affairs and international co-operations in Somalia to verify authenticity. They have not provided us with a time frame; it has to be kept on top of.”
At that point, the accused replied through his interpreter that he wanted to know about that evidence.
The judge explained that the sergeant was engaging with the embassy in Brussels. Det Sgt Quill added that there was a bureaucratic issue as a document had been issued by a member state rather than the federal government.
A solicitor for Tusla, the child and family agency, also attended the proceedings. The youth cannot be identified due to the Children Act’s reporting restrictions.
