A PERPLEXED judge asked whether a social scheme that is clearly benefiting an offender will be continued if she makes it a condition of bail that he attend, or if it will disappear for lack of funding.
Judge Catherine Ryan was hearing the case of a young man who is 16 and cannot be named because of his age.
He admitted causing criminal damage to a car to the tune of €350.
The district court heard the teenager has eight previous convictions for crimes including possession of knives theft and intimidation of a witness.
His solicitor, Tom Kiely, told the court that the accused had been living “virtually unsupervised” for a time but is now living with a family member “who doesn’t tolerate any misbehaviour”.
“He has not come to Garda attention in recent times,” Mr Kiely said.
Having read a favourable probation report n the young man, Judge Ryan asked the probation officer about a scheme mentioned in the report which the teen is participating in called the Social Farming scheme.
“I’m asking because if I make it a condition of his continued bail that he attend this course, will I be told at the next court review that the scheme has been cancelled because funding has been withdrawn?
“If I make that a condition of his bail, I would like to know that the funding is not going to run out? I want to know that he has somewhere to go every day.”
The probation officer told the court that the scheme is a nationwide one and he knew very little about it and could not say how secure the funding is.
“It’s a scheme for everyone, not just young offenders,” he said.
Judge Ryan remanded the teenager for 18 weeks on condition that he continue to participate in the Social Farming scheme “and hopefully do so for even longer” and that he also continue to engage with the probation services.
– Court Reporting Scheme