This article is from page 12 of the 2008-10-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A FATHER has allowed his teenage son go into voluntary residential care because he felt he could not cope, a court has heard.
The revelation emerged in the Ennis Children’s Court last Friday where a 17-year-old boy was charged with olen gcd bb ayoar- Im OURS loxtcB U0 wy IDONTS
The boy pleaded guilty to the of- fence at Altered Images hair salon on
the Turnpike Road in Ennis on July 7 last. Inspector John Galvin told the court that €150 was taken from cash register in the premises while money was also taken from a charity box. Insp Galvin said CCTV foot- age shows the accused entering the premises and that when questioned by the gardai, the accused had ad- mitted to the burglary and had been “very CO-operative’”’.
The court was told that the boy 1s
currently under the care of the Health Service Executive.
Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey told the court that her client’s mother had died last year and that this had had a “huge impact on his life’.
Ms Godfrey said that attempts were ongoing to secure her client a place in St Michael’s House, a residential care facility in Dublin.
“My client’s circumstances are very difficult, but there might be light at
the end of the tunnel,’ she said.
Ms Godfrey added that her client was not in receipt of any income or social welfare payment. “He doesn’t get anything,” she said, “And I think that is perhaps at the root of this burglary. His father voluntarily al- lowed him to go into care because he couldn’t cope,” said the solicitor.
Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for preparation of a proba- Woe Ke) oO) um