A 15-year-old boy, who is about to become a father, has been detained for one month after his 29th conviction, for snatching €600 from a man.
The out-of-school teenager pleaded guilty at the Children's Court to stealing the money on September 26th last at College Green, Dublin.
Garda Paul Burke of the Garda Traffic Division told Judge William Hamill that the victim had withdrawn the money from an ATM machine when the boy approached, snatched the cash and ran.
He agreed with the defence solicitor that the boy, who lives in south Dublin, had apologised to the victim and the money was recovered.
Garda Burke said the boy had 28 previous convictions, including nine for burglary, three for assault, four for larceny, six for escaping from lawful custody, as well as public order offences and violent behaviour in a Garda station.
In response to claims made by the teenager's father that his family's move to Dublin from the west was to blame for his son's criminal behaviour, Garda Burke said many of the boy's earlier burglary convictions were handed down by a court in Roscommon.
The court heard that the boy, who has been out of school since early childhood, was aware he was facing a sentence and that he had developed a drug addiction problem. His solicitor also said that his girlfriend was in the early stages of pregnancy and it was possible this might have "a positive impact" on him.
"Jail is not doing me any good, it's only making me worse, that's being straight," said the boy, who had been held in custody on remand pending the case.
Judge Hamill warned him that he could end up in St Patrick's Institution when he got older. He also said the boy had not learned a lesson from his earlier detention sentences, as the theft happened shortly after he was released.
Noting the teenager's guilty plea, apology and the fact that no violence was used, the judge imposed a one-month detention term but added: "I regret to say but he'll probably be back."
In a previous court case in 2004, the Children's Court heard that the boy had been suspected of committing 60 per cent of burglaries in the Rathfarnham and Tallaght areas in Dublin over the first three months of 2004.
The court heard last year that he had been involved in a wave of crimes "from Ballyhaunis to Blackrock". He started committing the crimes in July 2002, when he was 11 years old.
In another of his earlier appearances, when he was aged 13, the court was told he was at that time on the educational level of a pupil in senior infants class.