Gardai have charged a 15-year-old boy, who allegedly held a meat cleaver to a taxi-driver’s throat during a car-jacking in Dublin, the boy, who cannot be named because of legal reason’s, is believed to have held a 36 year old taxi driver, at knife-point and robbed his BMW car which was later seized in Terenure in the early hours of May 18.
The youth, who is in care, was charged with three offences in connection with the hijacking: robbery of an i-Phone 4, worth €400, its charger and €25 in coins; producing a meat cleaver-type knife; and theft of the taxi.
Dublin Children’s Court, Judge John O’Connor granted conditional bail on May 19th to the teenager after hearing submissions from defence counsel Aoife McNickle.
The boy gave no reply after caution” when the charges were put to him and he appeared again at the city’s juvenile court yesterday (Monday). It is understood that the teenager has not yet entered a plea to the charges, he was accompanied to the hearing by his mother, lawyer and representatives of the Child & Family Agency.
There has been no evidence of breach of bail and the boy was remanded on continuing bail by Judge O’Connor to appear again next week for the DPP’s directions to be obtained.
The teenager has been warned that it is a condition of bail that he must continue residing in his current placement otherwise he could be remanded in custody to a juvenile detention centre