Care home staff afraid to take back troubled teenager

STAFF AT a care home in the Gorey area were afraid to take back a teenaged resident who had threatened one of them with a Stanley blade.

A case heard behind closed doors at the District Court in Wexford dealt with a 16-yearold accused of assault and offensive weapon offences who had been staying at the care home.

Judge John Cheatle heard it alleged that the young defendant came up behind a male staff member and put him in a head lock before putting a ‘sharp object’ up to his neck.

According to the prosecution, the teenager then said: ‘If things don’t go my way, I will slice you.’ He later told gardaí he did not remember what he had done.

The granting of bail was opposed and the court dealt with an application to have him remanded to the Oberstown detention centre in North County Dublin rather than returned to the care home.

Arresting Garda David Cuthbert pointed out that the defendant is more than six feet tall and that most of the staff in the home are female.

The garda felt they would struggle to contain him if he got out of hand.

The manager of the care home said she had known the accused since July and she had reservations about his being returned to her care.

She said that he had what she called mental health issues and pointed out that he had broken bail conditions in the past.

He had harmed himself and had threatened to kill himself, she revealed.

In response to questions from defending solicitor Tim Cummings, she stressed that she had no wish to criminalise the 16-year-old but said she did not know if he could commit himself to bail conditions.

The injured party in the assault said that, if the defendant returned, then he would fear for his own safety and for that of other staff members.

While the witness felt he had a good relationship with the accused, he believed that the threat to slice him ‘from ear to ear’ was real when it was made.

‘He needs a lot of help,’ said the staff member and there was some discussion as to where the youth was most likely to receive such help to deal with self-harm and suicidal tendencies.

The teenager was sworn in to declare that he would do what staff told him if returned to the care home but the judge refused to grant bail.

The best he could offer was a direction to staff at Oberstown to provide immediate assistance and to organise the preparation of a psychiatric report.

The care home staff member and the accused hugged each other before the defendant was brought away under escort.