A 17-year-old girl charged with prostitution was remanded into custody yesterday after a court heard that she had tested positive for heroin and had gone missing for nearly a week.
The Children's Court heard yesterday afternoon that she was located at an address in north Dublin city. It had been believed that she had gone missing with her mother, who is also being investigated over the prostitution allegations.
Last week she absconded from the care home where the court had ordered her to live so she could receive specialised help for her problems. Garda Mathew McKenna told Judge Hugh O'Donnell that he had objections to bail because she would be likely to re-offend and had been in breach of bail by absconding from the care home. The girl, a chronic heroin addict, had been told that use of illegal drugs could result in bail being breached.
Garda McKenna said the girl had tested positive for heroin use three times after she had been released from custody. He also said she had absconded from the care home and added that she needed to be placed into "a secure environment".
Judge O'Donnell refused bail and remanded the girl, who was in tears, in custody until next week.