A 14-year-old boy was in custody on assault charges last night after his father refused to pay £1 towards his bail. A special sitting of Kilkenny District Court was told that the South Eastern Health Board did not have a secure place for the boy, who was due to spend his second night in Waterford Garda station.
The boy, from Waterford city, is charged with assaulting his mother, assaulting a garda, possession of a knife and being drunk in a public place. Judge Peter Smithwick set bail at £3, with a third of this to be paid by his father.
However, his father told the court: "I'm not parting with any more money for him. I'm not letting him home because he's a danger to his mother and other children in the house."
Mr Michael Lanigan, the boy's solicitor, said the health board was attempting to put together a package for the boy to help his family and have him placed with another family. However, it would not have a place for him until October 26th.
The court heard that the boy's parents had been attempting, without success, to have him assessed for more than two years. His mother told Judge Smithwick: "He would be a different boy now if he had been assessed 2 1/2 years ago like we wanted."
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is to appear again at Waterford District Court today.