Christopher's story: Christopher has had a bad year. During the summer he was sentenced to 11 months for stealing. Around the same time his grandmother died. She was the only stable influence in his life.
Five years ago, at the age of 13, Christopher's solicitor, Mr Tom Madden from Longford, took two judicial reviews on his behalf. It forced the Midland Health Board in 1998 to open a special three-bed, secure and high-support unit for the boy. It was the first such unit in the region. Before that Christopher had been in various children's homes, including Finglas Childcare Centre, all of which proved unable to help him.
What originally marked Christopher out was his age. While all country towns have their share of young delinquents, Christopher was just 10 when he got into serious trouble with the gardaí in his home town of Longford. By the age of 12 he was trying to intimidate elderly people into giving him money.
The fact that Christopher became a problem child is not surprising. He came from one of the most deprived backgrounds in Longford. He was effectively abandoned to the care of his grandmother when a toddler. His mother suffered from intellectual and psychological problems, and was unable to care for Christopher and his siblings.
His father, a settled Traveller was not around much of the time either, and a disagreement with another Traveller family saw him leaving the town. In 1997 a judicial review got under way, leading to a High Court order by Mr Justice Kelly to the Midland Health Board to establish a special unit for Christopher.
It did so in October 1998 when the board converted a house it owned next to St Loman's Psychiatric Hospital in Mullingar. The board spent €200,000 making it secure. Eight staff were recruited for the unit, which would house Christopher along with two other children, with operating costs of over €250,000 a year.
In 2001 he was released from the unit and returned to Co Longford. Attempts to find other placements failed. He soon returned to a life of petty crime, culminating last summer with an 11-month jail sentence. He faces more serious charges in the new year.