A judge has sharply criticised the State for its "abysmal failure" to protect the rights of a homeless man who has been in care since he was three years old.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne ordered that Jason Hempenstall be jailed for a violent robbery, but said the State had "worse than failed" in its duties to him. She noted he was first incarcerated in Mountjoy Prison when he was 15. She said State agency reports written about Hempenstall over the years were "extremely depressing" and said he had been "more sinned against" than sinning.