A 16-YEAR-OLD boy whose parents say they are too scared to let him come home has been further remanded in custody after he refused to accept a foster home placement offered by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The teenager has entered guilty pleas at the Children’s Court to attacking a garda called to the defendant’s west Dublin home last February. He also admits a breach of the peace at a hospital on June 18th, and being drunk and disorderly, and breach of the peace at a community centre on February 15th.
The boy had been remanded in custody last month for breaking bail conditions and, after the court heard that, if released, he would have to rely on emergency hostel accommodation for homeless youths. Yesterday, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath noted a psychological report on the teenager, whose parents were present for the case, had been furnished to the court.
Solicitor for the HSE James Bardon said that a foster placement for the teenager had been found. However, the boy interjected to reject the offer repeatedly, saying, “I’m not going to any foster home or anything like that or anything by the HSE at all.”
Judge MacGrath remanded the teenager in custody to appear again next week. He was also warned about his behaviour in court, and told he must not make threats after he began mumbling and pointing at his social worker, who earlier said the teenager had assaulted him.
At a previous stage in the case, the boy’s father had said his son had been involved with social services for years but claimed nothing was done to alleviate his problems.
On July 13th last, his bail had been revoked after the boy’s father said, “I fear for my wife and kids.” The boy had earlier been granted bail on condition he co-operated with HSE social workers who had been trying to assist him with his problems.
However, he later broke the terms of his bail.
A social worker had said that the boy had been in care for a period and returned home to his parents a year ago. Late last year, the HSE “closed its file on the case, he was doing well”.
However, he went on to say the situation changed for the worse, with reports of the boy’s mother being attacked and the boy getting into trouble with the law.
He said that, following a court order, he had made arrangements to carry out a welfare assessment but the teenager declined to meet him on one occasion.
On the second occasion, the social worker felt that it would not be safe to meet the boy in his home “because of extreme threats to me that I have no doubt he would carry out”.
He also said he had been attacked by the teenager in the past and one of his colleagues had been “seriously assaulted” by him.
He told the court that a number of services had been put in place to help the boy, including alcohol addiction counselling, employment and training advice, and assistance from a youth worker.