AN Isle of Man lawyer will attempt this morning to free a 12 year old Irish girl being held in a Manx jail.
The girl, described as emotionally disturbed, has been in a cell since last Tuesday awaiting charges of assault and causing criminal damage.
The case has already caused disquiet in Britain, with civil rights activists calling for her immediate release. Her advocate, Mr Terry McDonald, said last night that her detention was "barbaric".
"Not only is she a child, she is a disturbed child. She is being held in the women's wing of a Victorian prison in a cell on her own, guarded by prison warders who are themselves most upset about having to do this," he said last night.
The Manx authorities say that the girl is being held in the prison because there are no secure juvenile facilities on the island.
In the last 18 months, five children have been sent to the jail after the Isle of Man government passed a custody Act designating the island's prison as a juvenile facility.
In each case, Mr McDonald, who argued that the detention breached United Nations conventions, succeeded in freeing the children. He said last night that he was optimistic he would gain freedom for his young client at today's hearing.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is thought to have been born in Dublin. She is said to be of small stature, has fair hair and is said to be of cherubic appearance.
It was not clear last night how the family had come to live on the Isle of Man but her mother is from Whitehall and her father from Rathfarnham.
Social workers at the Cummal Shee Voluntary Care centre say that she attacked them with her fists and feet and tried to set fire to a chair. The authorities then sought an emergency care order, formally removing the girl from her mother's care.
The Isle of Man magistrate who sent her to prison has expressed his regret but insisted that he had no choice.
"I have three children and many grandchildren including a grandson the same age - and I did not take the decision to send her to the juvenile unit lightly," he was quoted as saying yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin last night said that the Irish Embassy in London was following up reports that the girl is an Irish citizen.