This article is from page 1 of the 2012-01-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
A COURT has heard how a 15-yearold boy who suffers from serious behavioral disorders was told he had to wait two years to access treatment for drug problems.
The boy, accompanied by his family, appeared at Ennis District Court on Friday. He was charged with assault and criminal damage arising out a disturbance at a house in the Mid-Clare area.
The court heard that the boy suffers from ADHD, ODD and dyslexia. A HSE social worker told the court that over the past two years there had been a pattern of either threatening or abusive behaviour.
Garda Cathal Nolan gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court that when he arrived at the house, the boy was holding a golf club. Garda Nolan said that when he tried to take the club, the boy said, “I’m going to kill you and wreck the place.”
Garda Nolan said an attempt was made to invoke a Section 12 order. He said that when the boy was brought to meet social workers at River House, a HSE office, he became “extremely violent and aggressive,” and had to be restrained and handcuffed.
The boy told the court that he had stopped attending counselling sessions and that he understood that the court had the power to remand him in custody. He also acknowledged his difficulties with drugs. “I asked them two years ago for help with drugs. They tried but said I could not get in ‘til I was 15.”
The boy’s father told the court that he had never seen his son behave in such a violent manner. He added, “He came to me at 13 and said he was taking drugs and that he was feeling bad and that he wanted to get off them.”
The man said the family were told that the boy could not get a place at an addiction treatment centre until he turned 15. He said that 90 per cent of his son’s problems relate to drugs.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy said the boy required proper assessment in a controlled environment. Ordering that he attend Trinity House for a full psychological, psychiatric and educational assessment, Judge McCarthy said that in a volountary situation “where he could walk in and out, it’s not going to work”.
In response to pleas from the boy’s father, Judge McCarthy said: “This is not punishing a young man. This is him being properly assessed.”