Teenager charged over Dublin stabbing claims he acted in self-defence

Tom Tuite

A Dublin teenager has pleaded not guilty to carrying out two stabbings during a confrontation with a group of teenagers, maintaining that he acted in "self-defence".

The 17-year-old boy is charged with violent disorder and production of a knife during the incident in south Co Dublin in December 2020.

The teen, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court on Wednesday.

The Director of Public Prosecutions recommended that the case proceed to a higher level. However, Judge Paul Kelly accepted jurisdiction for it to remain in the Children’s Court after he watched video evidence and heard an outline of the prosecution's evidence.

Garda Stephen Beirne told the court that gardaí received a call about several youths having a knife fight.

The teen’s family initially reported that a group of males had attacked him on his way home from school. However, when the officer went to the teen’s home, he found everyone to be "very confrontational", and nobody there wanted to make a statement.

The accused then went for medical treatment, and the garda went to a hospital to speak to two other youths "who turned up with stab wounds". They refused to make a formal complaint despite telling gardaí the accused stabbed them.

The court heard the incident stemmed from fighting between two groups following an earlier incident.

Defence counsel Doireann McDonagh said her client, who was then aged 15, claimed he was terrified and claimed he acted in self-defence after a gang of eight to 10 older youths "surrounded" him.

Judge Kelly accepted jurisdiction for his case to remain in the Children’s Court and ordered that his hearing proceed next month.

The boy, accompanied to court by a family member, did not address the court and was remanded on continuing bail.