A Dublin youth has admitted threatening to vandalise a mother of five's home unless she paid a €2,000 drug debt.
The then 17-year-old boy was accused of "making unwarranted demands" on December 10th, 2022.
He pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children's Court on Monday when video evidence of him calling to the terrified victim's home.
The court heard he demanded the woman hand over about €2,000 for her son's drug debt, or he would smash windows at her home.
He got no money from her but became a suspect in a garda investigation into drug debt intimidation.
Defence counsel Doireann McDonagh told the court her client maintained that he was under "duress" to carry out the crime because he also had a drug debt.
Judge Brendan O'Reilly ordered the Probation Service to draft a pre-sentence report on the teen who came to court with family members.
The youth, now 18, remains on bail with conditions and was ordered to appear again in December.
The judge has accepted jurisdiction for the case to remain in the Children's Court and not to send it to the Circuit Court, which has tougher sentencing powers.
He must obey a 9pm – 6 am curfew, be contactable by mobile phone number, have no contact with the injured party or her family and stay away from parts of north Dublin.
A summary conviction for the offence in the District Court or Children's Court can lead to a fine of about €1,200 and a custodial sentence of up to one year.
The offence is contrary to section 17 of the Public Order Act, which covers crimes of blackmail, extortion and demanding money with menaces.
