DPP to decide mildly autistic boy's fitness to plea
The case of a mildly autistic 12-year-old boy who is unable to give legal instructions to his solicitor has been adjourned pending a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on whether or not the prosecution will be dropped.
The west Dublin boy is facing a charge at the Dublin Children’s Court for trespassing at the Cherry Orchard Community Centre in Ballyfermot, Dublin, on May 8 last, when was aged 11.
A special hearing has been ordered to determine whether he is fit to plea given his young age.
However, the boy’s solicitor Catherine Ghent has said there had been difficulties in “vindicating his rights to a fair trial as there was an issue over his capacity to give legal instructions”.
A consultant psychiatrist has been sourced to carry out an assessment of the boy to establish whether he was fit to plead, able to give legal instructions and understood what a crime was.
Ms Ghent has written to the DPP to ask to have the prosecution withdrawn because of the boy’s problems and the difficulties she had encountered in taking instructions from him.
When she attempted to take instructions from the boy he became distressed and hid by pulling his t-shirt over his head and would not communicate.
The boy, who has an extremely supportive family, had been showing signs of behavioural problems from an early age. Since he was aged seven he has been under the supervision of a psychiatrist and had been found to have Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorders.
Later assessments found that he has Aspergers Syndrome, a mild form of autism, and efforts are underway to have a social worker allocated to assist him.
Judge Bryan Smyth agreed to adjourn the case pending the DPP’s decision. The boy, who was supported in court by his mother, was remanded on continuing bail.
Earlier, Ms Ghent had said that if prosecution was not withdrawn, High Court proceedings would be initiated to seek an order for prohibition of the boy’s trial on the grounds of his right to a fair trial under the Irish constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
