Sentencing of two teenagers for their involvement in a sexual assault incident on two boys, then aged seven and eight, has been adjourned again by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Desmond Hogan said the court was "in a quandary" over passing judgment on the teenagers due to their ages and the victims' ages, when he adjourned sentencing to March 21st, 2006.
"If not for their ages, the court will certainly be of the view that a custodial sentence is warranted," he said. However, having read the reports from the Probation and Welfare Services, he felt "the court should see how these two young people get on in the interim".
He said he was not completely sure of the probability that Jeffrey Connor (17), of Quarry Road, and Patrick Dunne (17) of Jarlath Road, both Cabra, would stay out of trouble. He said the case could be re-entered before March if they came to the attention of gardaí.
Judge Hogan said it was not in his jurisdiction to agree to an application by defence counsel, Conor Devally SC, for Connor, and Pádraig Dwyer for Dunne, that he order the media not to publish their names.
Mr Devally told Judge Hogan that media coverage of the previous hearing had been "inflammatory" with some headlines implying that the defendants were "hardened paedophiles" while this was clearly not the case. He said parents of his client had come "quite close" to taking action against the media for such coverage, which had affected the family quite badly.
"That is a matter between the family and the newspapers," Judge Hogan said, refusing the request that the media be asked not to cover the case.
The court heard at the last hearing in February that the defendants admitted varying degrees of involvement in the assault on May 31st, 2002.
Connor pleaded guilty to assault on one boy and Dunne to sexual assault on the second boy. The attack took place inside an abandoned van parked at a north Dublin location.
A third teenager involved in the same attack was convicted of sexual assault by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last November.
Judge Michael White sentenced the 15-year-old to two years detention at Trinity House.