In the absence of any alternative, a High Court judge has said he must direct the continuing detention in St Patrick's Institution for another four weeks of an extremely disturbed teenage boy, an alleged victim of sexual abuse, with no criminal convictions.
The 16-year-old youth has already been in the prison for some five weeks and has been described as a serious suicide risk.
Mr Justice Kearns warned that if an appropriate placement for the boy was not secured within the four weeks, he would grant an injunction compelling the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB) to provide such a place.
The boy was allegedly sexually abused by a neighbour for a two-year period from the age of nine. He has no criminal convictions but has a severe conduct disorder and behavioural problems. He has made a number of suicide attempts, including one where he became unconscious after trying to hang himself.
Proceedings aimed at securing an appropriate place for him have been before the High Court 28 times since summer 2000, and he has been placed in State remand units, an adult psychiatric hospital, an open unit and at home. The judge was told none of these places was appropriate to his needs.
Mr Justice Kearns had directed a special hearing aimed at securing an appropriate place for the boy. He was told yesterday the Central Mental Hospital could not take him.
Dr Helen O'Neill, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the hospital, said its services were already greatly strained, and the hospital was full, with a waiting list, including four urgent cases. It had also lost 14 beds in recent months due to staff shortages and refurbishment. However, she was prepared to assess the boy in St Patrick's.
The judge heard a possible option for the boy was a place with a private organisation which operates individual high-support units for disturbed children, with one-to-one supervision and 24-hour staffing.
The weekly cost of placing a child with the unit was €9,500 with a yearly cost of €600,000.
A manager with the SEHB said funding for the placement would have to be negotiated with the Department of Health and Children.
The official said the SEHB had negotiated funding last autumn for a number of high-support and secure placements for children in its area but had not envisaged it would require this additional place, and funding would have to be secured. However, the official stressed, the board was not making funding an issue.
Mr Justice Kearns said the cost was significant but it would be worth it "if it can turn his life around".
He adjourned the matter for four weeks to give time for an assessment of the private unit.
He also directed the carrying out of assessments of the boy by Dr O'Neill and a UK forensic psychiatrist who had arranged to assess the boy on July 18th.
In the interim, the judge said, he had no alternative but to direct that the boy remain in St Patrick's.
