Court may name girl who escaped from care

The High Court is to decide today whether to reveal to the media the identity of a disturbed girl who remains at large after escaping last week from a therapeutic unit.

Disclosure of the girl's name is being considered in the hope that it would lead to her being found, but there are concerns that naming her might have adverse effects on her.

Nursing staff in the unit from which the 16-year-old escaped last Friday have written to the local health board warning that industrial action will be taken if the girl is sent back. They say they fear for their safety if she is returned. Already, five staff have resigned from the unit over the girl's disturbed behaviour. The girl escaped from the unit on October 10th. The unit was built in compliance with an order of Mr Justice Kelly and is located in the grounds of a psychiatric hospital.

She returned voluntarily at midnight on October 12th and handed over a syringe and white powder, believed to be heroin, and told staff she had injected herself. She absconded again, this time from a hospital unit, last Friday.

On Monday Mr Justice Kelly issued a warrant directing the Garda to search for, arrest and detain the child in the locked ward of the adult psychiatric hospital where she had been prior to the unit being built.

The girl has an extremely disturbed history and is considered to be high risk. She was in foster care from the age of one year to 10 years; was sexually abused at the age of 10, abused solvents from the age of 12 and took drugs from the age of 14. She has an alcohol problem and a history of self-harm, including cutting herself. She has made two attempts to hang herself and has also set fire to herself.

In court yesterday, a letter from a SIPTU branch representing workers in the unit from which she the girl escaped was handed to Mr Justice Kelly. It stated that staff feared a threat to their own health and safety if the girl was returned to the unit. A subsequent follow-up letter warned of industrial action if the girl was returned.

Ms Teresa Blake, for the health board responsible for the girl's welfare, asked the judge to have the identity and description of the girl disclosed to the public through the media with a view to quickly relocating her. It was important to have the public's help in this task, counsel said.

Mr Mark de Blacam SC, for the child, said he would strenuously oppose any such application on the basis that such a revelation was not in the child's best interests at this stage. That view was supported by a child psychologist.

Mr Justice Kelly said he would deal with the issue of identification today after hearing evidence from the board and on behalf of the girl. (He has earlier directed that the girl's identity, that of the health board and the location of the unit where she was held, may not be disclosed).

The judge asked that urgent consideration be given to where the girl might be accommodated, particularly in view of the threat from SIPTU staff. "Her history is so awful and the risks are so high," he said.