A 16-year-old boy's crime spree ended yesterday when a judge at the Children's Court detained him for 15 months for 50 crimes committed over two and a half years.
Judge William Early had given the out-of-school teenage father of one a chance to find a training course and to co-operate with the probation services and had warned him that failure to do so would result in a custodial sentence.
At the boy's sentence hearing, Judge Early noted that the teenager had missed all six of his scheduled appointments with his probation officer.
Defence solicitor Mr John Quinn said that the boy, from Ballymun, had instructed him to ask the court for a final opportunity to show that he could change.
However, Judge Early refused to adjourn the case further and proceeded to detain the boy.
"He has been given opportunities since 2002. It was made clear to him in July that 15 months' detention would be imposed if he did not co-operate with the probation services," the judge said.
The boy remained silent during most of the hearing but shifted awkwardly on his seat when it became clear that he was not going to escape a custodial sentence.
He had no family in court to support him.
At an earlier court appearance of the teenager, his father had not accompanied him because he had opted to stay in bed instead.
The unemployed offender, who was previously described by Judge Early as having devoted his intelligence to crime pleaded guilty to 50 charges of theft, assault, motoring and public order offences dating to early 2002.
Over the years he had failed to meet with probation workers and delayed the finalisation of his case, which has put him into a new detention category, meaning he can now be held in St Patrick's Institution.
The boy had lived with both his parents and siblings but had dropped out of education after his second year in secondary school.
In one of the offences, which occurred last year, the teenager snatched 3,500 from a kiosk in the Stephen's Green Shopping Centre in Dublin. None of the money was recovered.
"The probation reports indicate that you are a clever young man but it seems that your intelligence is devoted to the commission of crime," Judge Early said in July when he had given the boy a last chance to mend his ways.
Judge Early yesterday ordered that the teenager should be detained in St Patrick's Institution for the 15 months he had previously indicated.
The boy was also banned from driving for five years.