The serious suicide risk attached to an extremely disturbed teenage boy, an alleged victim of sexual abuse, has diminished following positive developments in finding an appropriate place for him, the High Court heard yesterday.
Because no alternative place was available, the 16-year-old boy, who has no criminal convictions, has been detained in St Patrick's Institution for some six weeks . Yesterday the judge was told by Ms Carmel Stewart, for the South Eastern Health Board, that progress had been made and contact with a specialised private organisation, which operates individual high-support units for disturbed children with one-to-one supervision and 24-hour staffing, had gone well.
A director of the unit had met the boy, and he was anxious to co-operate and to ensure the project came to fruition. A British forensic psychiatrist had travelled to Dublin to assess the boy with a view to devising a treatment programme. A planning meeting was to be held next week. The judge adjourned the matter for one week.