A youth found guilty of a burglary at the home of an 88-year-old man has agreed to take part in a crime-diversion programme which could see him spared a custodial sentence.
The 16-year-old schoolboy had denied burglary and criminal damage to a window at the pensioner’s home in Howth, north Dublin, on October 12th and had claimed his medication “messes with my memory”.
Judge Ann Ryan had said he was bright but “the fact that you have ADHD is not a licence to commit crime”.
He was told that a restorative justice sanction meant that “if you do something wrong you must give something back”. This would also include paying for the damage to the elderly man’s window, Judge Ryan said.