A garda patrol car was rammed and a garda injured in an incident involving four youths early yesterday. The garda received stitches to his hand after the incident in Dublin's south inner city.
Gardaí believe the car had been stolen. Three young men were charged with road traffic offences yesterday, while a fourth youth was released and was recovering in St James's Hospital.
The incident happened at about 4.15 a.m. in the Donore Avenue area of Dublin. Two youths were taken to Kevin Street Garda station, while a third was questioned in Kilmainham Garda station.
A Garda spokesman said this type of incident was not unusual and happened every night. However, because of a recent spate of so-called "joyriding" incidents, there was more public interest in these cases.
The Fine Gael justice spokesman, Mr John Deasy TD, said yesterday the public was losing faith in the justice system, and often felt it wasn't worthwhile to report crimes.
"It is clear there is no real deterrent for repeat juvenile offenders who know the chances of being placed in a detention facility are slim." Mr Deasy called for appropriate custodial sentences for repeat juvenile offenders, saying that sentencing at present could be "massively inconsistent".
Mr Robert McGowan (30), a father of a two-year-old boy, was killed last Saturday week when his taxi was hit by a stolen car in Dublin's north inner city.
The car had been stolen in Killester, Dublin, earlier and had been involved in ramming two Garda cars in Fairview before speeding towards Summerhill. One of the car's occupants later died in hospital.
Also last week, three young men left Beaumont Hospital after crashing a stolen car in Swords on Tuesday night.
Two of the three signed themselves out against medical advice, while a third, who was transferred into the care of a social worker, also left the hospital.
Last Thursday, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, said he wished to see increased use of "stinger" devices by gardaí to tackle the problem of "joyriding".
Meanwhile in Waterford city, a local teenager appeared before a special court charged with the unauthorised taking of a vehicle on Friday night. He was remanded in custody until Thursday.
