Youth (15) sentenced to three years for robbery

A Dublin youth who told Judge Patrick McCartan he would "go back robbing" if he was released from custody has been sent to Trinity…

A Dublin youth who told Judge Patrick McCartan he would "go back robbing" if he was released from custody has been sent to Trinity House for three years.

The 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to his role in the robbery of three bicycles from a shop on September 24th last year. The boy's mother told Judge McCartan earlier she could not control him and agreed that it was best for her son to be sent to Trinity House.

She said she had suffered from post-natal depression for a long time and found it impossible to keep him out of trouble. She embraced the boy in court before he left to begin his detention.

Judge McCartan had sent the boy to Mountjoy Prison overnight when he first appeared before him earlier this month, because no places were available in youth detention centres then.