Tusla to apply for troubled child to be made a ward of court

TUSLA will seek to have a troubled child, who is considered a very high risk of harm to herself and to others, made a ward of court.

The move is a significant development in an urgent case which has been the subject of regular updates in the High Court over the past two months.

Tusla’s counsel, Barry O’Donnell

SC, said two psychiatric assessments conducted in recent weeks had concluded the child was “other than of sound mind” and met the criteria of wardship. The most recent of these reports, by Dr Aoife Kearney, was received by Tusla yesterday morning.

The child, who is currently being detained under a special care order, has previously expressed a wish to murder and rape.

There is a particular urgency to the matter as she is due to turn 18 in a few weeks’ time and ordinarily cannot be held in Tusla’s care beyond that point.

The child and family agency struggled in its efforts to find a care centre for her to voluntarily move into on becoming an adult. The issue was further complicated by the fact previous psychiatric assessments did not find her suitable for wardship or detention under the Mental Health Act.

This gave rise to the prospect of the child potentially being released into the community on reaching the age of 18.

But the picture began to change late last month when a fresh assessment, conducted by Professor Harry Kennedy of the national forensic service at the Central Mental Hospital, reached certain conclusions regarding the absence of functional capacity.

As a result of this assessment, a referral was sent to St

Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton, England, a specialist mental health service.

In an update for the court yesterday, Mr O’Donnell told Mr Justice John Jordan that the report by Dr Kearney concurred with Prof Kennedy’s conclusions.

The second opinion means Tusla can now make an application to the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, seeking to have the child made a ward of court. This would facilitate her transfer to adult care in St Andrew’s.

Mr O’Donnell said a pre-admission assessment by St Andrew’s was unlikely to commence until the new year.

For this reason, he said he would be requesting that the president make orders providing for her continued detention in a special care unit for a period after her 18th birthday.

Mr Justice Jordan adjourned the matter to later in the week for a further update.