An obstetrician's report has been sought to establish if a miscarriage suffered by a woman was linked to her witnessing the violent mugging of her husband by a gang of teenagers, the Children's Court heard yesterday.
Five 17-year-old boys have been charged with the attempted robbery of a man on Pleasant Street, Dublin, on February 6th last year.
In April four of them pleaded guilty to the offence while the fifth failed to appear in court. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest. When the case was called yesterday, three of the boys failed to appear in court.
The court had heard that the woman, who is in her 30s, had not been physically attacked, but was present when her husband was subjected to repeated punches, then knocked to the ground and kicked on the head, in front of her. She became extremely distressed and suffered a miscarriage the following day.
After a hearing of the evidence on April 14th, Judge Cormac Dunne adjourned the case until yesterday and ordered Garda inquiries to be made to find out if the miscarriage was brought on by the ordeal. "None of us here are medical people, but the law of coincidence would imply that it was not a coincidence," he said. Yesterday, the judge issued bench warrants for the three defendants who failed to appear in court.
Garda Fergal McDonagh told Judge Dunne yesterday that victim impact reports on the man and woman were not available yet. Applying for an adjournment, he said further time would be needed to allow for an obstetrician's report to be furnished.