Teen (17) guilty of using hammer and hatchet during attack on woman held in Dublin flat

Tom Tuite

A youth has signed guilty pleas to charges of using a hammer and a hatchet in a gang attack on a woman held in a flat in Dublin last year.

The 17-year-old boy is accused of false imprisonment and assault causing harm to the complainant, 37, at Henrietta House, Dublin 7, on September 26th.

The teen, who cannot be named because he is a minor, is also accused of producing a metal pole, hammer, and hatchet during the incident.

In March, Judge Brendan Toale held that the case was too serious to be kept in the Children's Court, where a preliminary hearing was told the boy had "a significant role from start to finish".

Following a two-month adjournment, the teenager appeared there again with family and his lawyer.

He signed a guilty plea on all the charges before Judge Toale granted an order sending him forward for sentencing in the Circuit Court, which has greater sentencing powers.

Legal aid was granted to the youth who will face his next hearing in June.

Earlier, the defence emphasised that the teenager was vulnerable, less culpable, and had responded to a 5.40 am call to get involved in the incident, which was connected to a drug debt and "would not have been able to say no, go away."

The boy had no prior convictions.

Judge Toale agreed with the DPP that the case should go forward to the higher court.

The prosecution had disclosed 200 pages of evidence, including text message reports, to the defence. The prosecution also contended that the accused was involved in a joint enterprise with the others and that he had a significant role from start to finish.

And the court heard it was alleged the boy had used the weapons named in the charges.

Judge Toale noted video evidence and an outline of the facts assembled by the investigation team.

Defence solicitor Aonghus McCarthy had pleaded with the judge to deal with the boy in the Children's Court.

He cited a forensic psychological report and the detrimental effects of the teen's background of parental drug abuse and incarceration, which made him a trauma victim.

He also stressed that the teenager now had greater support from his wider family, had changed his peers, and had a job offer.

However, the judge refused jurisdiction.

Eight men aged between 20 and 54 are before the courts on connected charges.