A quarter of the cases at the Children's Court in Dublin had to be adjourned yesterday due to the absence of juvenile defendants' parents.
In four out of the 16 cases called, Judge Michael Connellan was told that the juveniles concerned had arrived at court without a parent or guardian, as is compulsory under the Children's Act 2001.
In one of the cases, Judge Connellan was told that the parents of one teenage defendant was at a funeral. However, Judge Connellan commented that funerals appeared to be a common excuse given to the court. He adjourned the four cases and threatened he would issue a warrant for the arrest of the absentee parents if they failed to appear on their children's next court appearance, adding that that he has the power to do so under the Children's Act.
In another case involving a teenage boy, the court was told that his father could not come to court, but his football coach had come instead. The case was adjourned and the boy was told that his father must be with him on the next occasion, not his football trainer. In another case involving a 17-year-old girl, who has a history of skipping court, the judge was told that her family had been cautioned that an adult had to come to court with her.