TWO 13 year old boys who damaged the roof and ceilings of a detention centre in Co Wicklow during a six hour roof protest are due to appear before Arklow District Court this morning on charges of malicious damage.
The youths, both from Dublin, broke out on to the roof early yesterday evening. They remained there, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to the roof of Trudder House, outside Newtownmountkennedy, until shortly after 1 a.m. when the mother of one boy was brought to the house and ordered them down.
The youths then asked gardai to help them back down through a roof light.
The boys, who had been sentenced to detention by the High Court, ignored earlier attempts to persuade them to climb down and were reported to be shouting abuse at staff and gardai, who were called to the scene at about 7 p.m. One of the slates thrown by the youths was reported to have broken a wind screen in a Garda car.
One of the boys is understood to have threatened to commit suicide. They also demanded a helicopter and £1,000 in cash.
There was no attempt to forcibly move the boys and gardai were concerned that they might fall from the roof through panic or fatigue.
The boys are understood to have caused extensive damage to the ceilings of upstairs rooms in the 19th Century house and stripped an extensive area of the roof.
The home is run by the Eastern Health Board as a residential treatment centre for disturbed youths who have been before the courts.
During the 1970s Trudder House was run by a charity to house disturbed children from the travelling community. However, it was closed down and eventually re opened under the control of the Eastern Board.