Gardaí have had to come to a primary school on a number of occasions to help contain “an out-of-control” 11-year-old girl, a District Court sitting of the Family Law Court in Ennis has heard.
The child has threatened to have classmates shot and killed, assaulted classmates and assaulted her mother and sister in the presence of the school principal, representatives of the Child and Family Agency said.
A senior social worker with the agency said the girl’s behaviour had deteriorated in the past six months.
In two incidents last year, the girl’s school was unable to manage her and called gardaí on both occasions. The social worker said that, on a more recent occasion, the school contacted gardaí after an outburst at school by the girl “where the girl was completely out of control”.
“It is very significant that a school like the one in this case are relying on Garda assistance to deal with the behaviour,” the social worker said.
Earlier this year, the social worker told Judge Patrick Durcan, the girl took an overdose of her mother’s prescription drugs and was taken to hospital by ambulance. An assessment carried out on the girl afterwards found there was no intention to self-harm.
The girl had another outburst at the hospital where she was treated for the overdose, resulting in the hospital deploying a security guard.
In court, the solicitor for the agency said that “parents of other sick children were going to take their children out of the hospital because of the trouble the girl was causing”.
The social worker said the girl had two huge outbursts last autumn at school “when both myself and gardaí were asked to attend. She was beyond control of her parents and no adult around her was able to manage her at that time.”
The social worker said the girl “is completely out of control”.
Respite care
In the case, the agency was seeking to put the child into care on an interim basis. Both the child’s mother and father – who is the girl’s primary carer – were opposing the application, with the father stating that he was agreeable to the respite care from Monday to Friday only and would look after his daughter at weekends.
A solicitor for the mother said there had been no further episode of note at the school over the past two months. However, after hearing evidence from the senior social worker, mother and father, the judge in the case placed the girl into care for the next 29 days.
The solicitor told the father: “This is not a punishment of you or your wife. The sole purpose of this is to safeguard your child from now and into the future.
“If she stays at home under present circumstances and present influences, her attitude will not change and it may get even worse.”
The social worker said she believed the girl was “crying out for help”.
“The girl’s behavioural issues are so concerning that down the line I just see a very bleak future for the girl unless we do something very different and very intensive,” the social worker said.
“I would be very, very concerned for the girl if the current pattern continues and I would be very concerned that she would end up part of the criminal system and out of education and be at the risk of harm – both to herself and others.”
‘Emotional response’
The social worker said an assessment of the girl found that “there isn’t an underlying mental health issue, that her difficulties are an emotional and behavioural response to the environment that she is living in”.
“I am aware that the girl is a much-loved child but that her parents’ and family situation is very difficult and stressful. I would have great admiration for efforts the father has made over the years, and while her mother loves her children she doesn’t have the capacity to meet the girl’s needs at this time.”
The mother told the court that the girl “is not a very bold child – she is a good child”.
The father admitted the girl’s behaviour “has deteriorated a small bit and there have been no outbursts at home”.
In his ruling, Judge Durcan described the father as “an unsung hero” in bringing up the girl by himself for the last number of years.
However, the judge said that “it is not usual that a child of her age gives rise to major outbursts of the nature outlined and it is not usual that the child shows a level of aggression in terms of assaults and threats, so there is a problem”.
He granted an interim care order for the purpose of ensuring that the girl’s health and welfare are not impaired or neglected.