Two adolescent sisters have been charged with stealing €500 from a young man after being detained during a Garda investigation into crimes from vulnerable persons in Dublin city centre, reports Breaking News.
The two, who are 16 and 17 years old and cannot be identified due to their status as minors and their legal right to anonymity, made an appearance in the Dublin Children’s Court on Monday.
The two girls were taken into custody by Pearse Street Garda Station’s Serious Crime Unit officers on Thursday and held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act to be questioned, reports Breaking News.
On January 21, they were each accused of stealing €500 from Joshua Spurling, age 23, in Aston Quay, Dublin 2. On that particular occasion, the Down syndrome student, who hails from Greystones, County Wicklow, was in the city on a college trip.
Last week, the complainant’s mother, Ruth Spurling, appeared on RTÉ’s Liveline, reports Breaking News.
The girls have not yet entered pleas. Their mother is accompanying them to the court, and they are using an address in County Dublin.
Judge Brendan Toale was informed by Garda Sergeant Robbie Byrne that they “made no reply” when charged. Due to Storm Eowyn’s effect on the court, which had to close the next day, they were granted station bail on Thursday, reports Breaking News.
He requested that bail be granted with the following requirements: proving their address, avoiding the Dublin 2 area because that is where the event occurred, and signing up three times a week at their neighbourhood garda station.
Doireann McDonagh, the defence attorney, said that since the girls were minors and did not face the possibility of missing court, the signing-on period was superfluous, reports Breaking News.
Judge Toale chose not to include that requirement, but he did issue a warning that they would have to stay at their existing home address and not go into Dublin 2, with the usual exception of going for legal advice.
He told the garda sergeant that “time is running” for the elder girl, who would turn 18 later this year, and that gardaí needed to get instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. He also postponed the case for four weeks.
awarded their ages and the nature of the accusations, the girls were awarded free legal help even though they chose not to speak in court. Once, their mother acknowledged that they were her daughters, reports Breaking News.
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