Call for inquiry as 3 youths abscond

THE Department of Education has called for an immediate report into how three young offenders absconded while on "mobility trips…

THE Department of Education has called for an immediate report into how three young offenders absconded while on "mobility trips" at the weekend.

Three teenagers from Oberstown Boys Centre, Lusk, Co Dublin, absconded in two separate incidents on Saturday, it has been confirmed.

A 15 year old escaped at around 3 p.m. on Saturday while on trip to Drogheda and was still missing last night.

Two other youths, aged 15 and 16, also absconded at 8 p.m. during a visit to Santry, but were rearrested an hour later in the Coolock area, a garda source confirmed.

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Gardai from Balbriggan, meanwhile, were called to Oberstown House yesterday afternoon after four teenagers barricaded themselves into a room at the juvenile centre. Some damage was reported, but no one was injured.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said last night that an immediate report was being sought into the incidents.

The Department recently established separate boards to review security and the policy of "mobility trips" at the juvenile detention centre in Lusk, Co Dublin. The reports are expected soon.

A garda source said that youngsters absconding from the centre had become a common occurrence and expressed frustration at the prevalence of incidents there. Staff were "restricted" in how they could deal with these teenagers, he said.

He also criticised the frequency of outside visits which the juvenile offenders enjoyed as part of "rehabilitation" programmes.

In July last year, a 15 year old boy absconded on a "mobility trip" to a cinema in Santry with two other boys, just a week after he was convicted of attempted rape. He was re arrested and returned to the Trinity House detention centre in Lusk.

Another teenager, described as a "dangerous criminal for his age", absconded from Trinity House in January last and was later rearrested.