A youth addicted to pills admitted dragging a man down a street in the centre of Dublin and repeatedly attacking him during a "truly shocking" drug-fuelled early morning robbery.
The victim, a middle-aged man, was on his way to work when he first encountered the 17-year-old boy at Liffey Street at around 7 am on July 24th.
The Dublin Children's Court heard the teenager "threatened to stab the man if he didn't give him money".
Garda Craig White said the boy followed the victim onto Middle Street Upper and stopped him.
Video evidence showed the man being approached by another male who was not known to him.
The injured party was hit and tried to go around the attacker but was blocked and "punched to the ground". He got up, received more punches and was knocked down again.
After standing up, the mugger brought him to the Spar shop beside the Jervis St Luas stop. The man was punched and knocked down at the store entrance, but the attacker dragged him out by his feet.
He suffered several more blows, including repeated kicks, while a member of the public tried to intervene.
The teenager was caught nearby with the man's backpack and Nintendo Switch.
The victim required 20 stitches to his upper lip. Garda White agreed with defence counsel Doireann McDonagh that the accused was intoxicated.
The teen, who cannot be named because he is a minor, appeared before Judge Paul Kelly for a preliminary hearing to decide his trial venue. He has been charged with robbery.
After hearing an outline of the evidence from the investigating garda, the defence submissions and watching CCTV evidence, Judge Kelly held that the case was too serious and should be dealt with in the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.
His barrister submitted that her client would plead guilty, and it happened over three weeks when he developed a dependency on pills and committed completely out-of-character acts.
The court heard he is back in education and preparing for the Leaving Certificate.
But Judge Kelly refused jurisdiction, saying it was a "truly shocking" and sustained incident.
The boy, accompanied to court by his mother, was remanded on continuing bail to appear again in January to be served with a book of evidence.
