A Dublin youth has appeared in court charged with theft by using stolen bank cards in a “contactless” payments spree at a betting shop.
The 17-year-old boy appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court on Thursday after he was charged with 16 offences.
It is alleged he used two other people’s bank cards to make payments, totalling €420, which did not require having to enter a PIN. Contactless bank cards can only be used to spend up to €30 in an individual transaction.
The youth who cannot be named because he is a minor, is accused of two counts of burglary at apartments on Ringsend Road, in Dublin 4, on July 14 th last.
He also faces 14 counts of theft for unlawfully using two debit cards, which did not belong to him on the same date as the burglary, to make contactless payments of €30 each. The contactless payment offences are alleged to have occurred at a Paddy Power shop on Ringsend Road.
Garda Dermot Delaney, of Irishtown Garda station, told Judge Alan Mitchell that the youth was arrested on Thursday morning and he was charged before he was brought to court.
The boy, who was accompanied to court by his mother, “made no reply” when cautioned and he was given a copy of each charge.
There was no objection to bail and the DPP had recommended that the case should be dealt with in the Children’s Court.
The boy, who did not address the court, will be expected to enter a plea at his next hearing in three weeks. He remains on bail on these charges but is in custody on remand in relation to other proceedings.