' It is too convenient . . . to drop him in a psychiatric hospital where he would spend the rest of his life

The Children's Court Carl O'Brien It was the first time the brain-damaged boy smiled during countless appearances before the…

The Children's Court Carl O'BrienIt was the first time the brain-damaged boy smiled during countless appearances before the court.

He had spent five weeks in prison because the health board said there was nowhere suitable for the boy to be detained. Now, before Judge Angela Ní Chondúin, the solicitor for the health board explained they had found a short-term place in Ballydowd, a secure unit in Dublin.

The boy, with a mental age estimated to be that of a seven or eight-year-old, had previously been detained there but was released after health authorities said the unit did not meet his needs.

However, a multi-disciplinary team was now in place and the 17-year-old could reside there for the next three months, the solicitor said.

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The boy's lost expression - his mouth ajar and his eyes disorientated - melted into a warm smile as he realised he was leaving jail.

"I'm going to grant you bail to go to Ballydowd," Judge Ní Chondúin said.

"Thanks very much," the boy croaked.

"And I want you to try your very best to make it work," she added. "Everybody wants the best for you."

Instead of being led down to the cells as so many times before, he shuffled outside the courtroom in his black Adidas tracksuit, accompanied by his three aunts.

"At least now he's out of prison," one aunt said outside the court. "He was wearing the same jumper and vest that he had on last week. I brought him a tracksuit today, so at least he had a change of clothes before going into court."

But there was still the unsettling question of what care would be available for the boy once he became an adult, after which time the health board's duty of care ceases.

"What concerns me is that this all appears to be very last-minute," Judge Ní Chondúin said earlier. "I last dealt with this case two months ago and I now find that the child is in custody."

She also noted that health board plans to accommodate the boy in Ballydowd would only last a few months. "It is his 18th birthday soon . . . it's too convenient to let him go or to drop him in a psychiatric hospital where he would spend the rest of his days. I want to know what the health board is going to do beyond this facility. Maybe I can't do that, but I want to know for humanitarian reasons."

The solicitor for the health board, who sounded wounded by the remarks, said in Ballydowd he would receive excellent attention.

"It is a secure unit, and it is the only place he can be detained. We're being criticised, now, for having done it," the solicitor said.

"I'm not criticising that," the judge responded. "If he could fend for himself, fine. But he can't and the system has to look after him. His aunts, the gardaí, everyone is concerned for him, but the health board is not moving fast enough."

The boy's solicitor, Ms Sarah Molloy, said she was glad to finally see some progress, but warned that the last time he was released from Ballydowd he eventually ended up with a sister who was unable to look after him.

Outside the courtroom, the three aunts gathered around their nephew, making a fuss of him and saying they would bring him out shopping.

The garda asked if he wanted the old clothes that he was wearing earlier returned, but one of the aunts quickly said no. After their goodbyes, the brain damaged boy followed the garda and walked out the front door of the courtroom, into the sharp February sunlight and an uncertain future.