No conviction for boy who threatened to kill his mother

A garda told the court that he arrived at the boy’s home and found him drunk and in a very agitated state.

"He said that he would kill us and his mother. Then he head butted me leaving me with a slight bruise over my eye," the garda said, adding that the teenager had no previous convictions.

In mitigation, the boy’s counsel said the boy had been going through a difficult period. Shortly before the incident the teen’s mother had told him that the man he had thought was his father was not.

"His real one was a man who had raped his mother," counsel said, adding that both the teen and his mother are now attending counselling.

Judge Murphy noted the teen’s guilty plea and background to the incident. She said it must have been a huge shock for him.

"You have a great mother; she went through that experience and came out the other end with a fine son like you."

She advised him that he ought to still regard the man who had raised him with his mother, as his real father.

"That man was your father, he was the only man who reared you; he was your dad. The other man happened to take part in an activity that made your mother pregnant that is it."

"He is not your father, remember that," she stressed.

She also told the boy, who was supported in court by his mother, that he must find a way of dealing with his anger.

She dismissed the charge, leaving him without a criminal conviction.

The boy spoke briefly during the hearing to confirm that he had believed the man who had reared him was his father and a good one.