Gardaí have opened an international inquiry through diplomatic channels to verify documents relating to a Somalian youth accused of murdering Ukrainian teenager Vadym Davydenko while in care in Dublin.
The 17-yr-old, as listed in his charge, appeared before the Children’s Court on Tuesday, where the matter was adjourned to await directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), reports Breaking News.
His earlier two hearings required gardaí in helmets and protective armour to stand around him. However, those precautions were not needed on Tuesday, which marked his first court appearance via video link from a juvenile remand centre.
During the hearing, he spoke up and said, “I want to know about the evidence from Brussels”, after Judge Paul Kelly was informed that gardaí had contacted Somalian authorities through their embassy in Belgium, reports Breaking News.
Vadym, aged 17, was fatally stabbed at around 11am on October 16th inside a 24-hour residential facility located in an apartment block in Donaghmede.
He had been accommodated there with other young people who were unaccompanied and seeking international protection, reports Breaking News.
Vadym had recently finished high school in Kyiv, travelled to Ireland, and had arrived only about three days before he was killed.
Emergency services attended the scene after a call for assistance, and the youth was pronounced dead on site, reports Breaking News.
Earlier in the case, the court directed that the accused receive immediate psychiatric and medical care.
For his third appearance on Tuesday, Detective Sergeant Mark Quill requested a four-week adjournment, saying the file was progressing but important post-mortem and forensic results were still pending, reports Breaking News.
Wearing a red jumper, black trousers, and white gloves, the accused took part in the proceedings from a video-link room at the Oberstown Detention Campus, assisted by an interpreter positioned in the courtroom.
Defence counsel Doireann McDonagh informed him that the adjournment had been discussed with his solicitor and that they agreed the matter should be pushed back four weeks, reports Breaking News.
Fidgeting with his hair throughout, the youth confirmed he was agreeable to postponing the case until December 16th.
Judge Kelly ordered that he remain in custody until that date, when he will appear again via video link for the DPP’s directions, reports Breaking News.
Detective Sergeant Quill added: “Enquiries remain ongoing in relation to documentation. We have had open dialogue with the Somalian authorities, located in Brussels, that is the embassy we have to go through. They are carrying out enquiries on our behalf; documents have to be verified by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operations in Somalia to verify authenticity. They have not provided us with a time frame; it has to be kept on top of.”, reports Breaking News.
At that point, the youth responded through his interpreter, saying he wanted information about that evidence, reports Breaking News.
The judge clarified that the sergeant was liaising with the embassy in Brussels, and Detective Sergeant Quill noted there was an administrative complication because one document had been issued by a member state rather than by the federal authority.
A solicitor representing Tusla, the child and family agency, was also present for the hearing. The youth cannot be identified due to reporting restrictions under the Children Act, reports Breaking News.
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