A 16-year-old boy has been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court after two train passengers had to fend off a youth brandishing a screwdriver and making a stab threat before they were attacked, chased and mugged on a platform at Connolly Station in Dublin.
He and a girl, also aged 16, have been charged with robbery on the evening of July 17th, 2022, on a crowded train journey from Malahide station to the city centre.
The boy had an additional charge for producing a weapon during the incident, which carried on for 20 minutes and spilt out onto the packed station platform.
It was held that the boy’s case should go to a higher level with broader sentencing powers. However, the girl pleaded guilty, and prosecution is to remain in the Children’s Court. She will be sentenced later.
The boy appeared again at the Dublin Children’s and was served with a book of evidence. Judge Brendan Toale granted a trial order and ordered the boy, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, to appear before the Circuit Court on a date in October.
Malahide to Connolly train
In an outline of the evidence, Garda Kelly McKiernan said the man and woman, in their late 20s, had been travelling from Malahide to Connolly station when two males and two females tried to take the man’s scooter.
She alleged that the boy approached a second time, “produced a screwdriver”, and told the man “, Sit down or I will stab you”.
The court heard he told the man, who had a €900 e-scooter. His friend, a woman who tried to intervene, was punched in the face several times.
The man pushed the teen away and disarmed him. The screwdriver dropped on the floor, and the man pushed it away with his foot.
The court heard the incident went on for about 20 minutes, and when the train got to Connolly station, the man and his friend were chased up the platform.
The girl, then 15 and intoxicated, attacked the woman and punched her several times in the face. The pair took the e-scooter, but Irish Rail’s security intervened when they tried to ride away along the platform.
The woman had a cut lip and sore hand, while the man had a sore arm and shoulders afterwards.
Counsel said the boy had been affected by the “disintegration of his family” and went on a “downward spiral”. However, the judge held his case should be dealt with at a higher level.
The youth, accompanied to court by his grandmother, was remanded on continuing bail.
