In a very rare move, a sitting judge asked the Probation Services to report back to him on the Health Service Executive (HSE ) in the case of a teenage girl who had no previous convictions until she went into voluntary care.
“She seems to have no social worker,” said the judge. “It begs the question, what the hell are the health services doing? I want the [Welfare and] Probation Service to report to me on the progress of the health services.
“In my experience, senior management [with the HSE] do not have a great record of reporting to the courts on their own progress.”
The child, who can’t be identified because of her age, was accompanied by three care workers and she seemed bent on emphasising her disinterest in proceedings by yawning, checking her fingernails, looking around, and sighing. At one point, she even appeared to flirt with her solicitor.
She had been in court on Tuesday (December 16 ) to hear a probation report of her own.
“The Probation Service has made certain recommendations,” said Mr Paul Connellan, for the defence. “The social work report is very informative.”
He went on to explain how the child, who came from a very troubled family background, had gone into voluntary care on August 29.
The accompanying care workers confirmed the girl did not have a dedicated social worker but that she’d had one up to November and a replacement was expected for January.
It was also revealed the child had had to move care homes in this period, which the staff described as “very disruptive”.
“Maybe the health services should’ve thought of that before they closed the unit,” said Judge Anderson.
“I accept your situation,” he said to the staff. “As usual, my difficulty is not with the professionals on the ground. My difficulty is, as always, with management.”
The judge then remanded the child on continuing bail in the care of the HSE to re-appear at the District Court on February 18 for a new probation report on all matters.
Previously, this young offender pleaded guilty on October 14 to spitting at and kicking the security guard who apprehended her for stealing €116 worth of cosmetics from Dunnes Stores. on October 1.
Then, on December 2, she pleaded guilty to causing €1,800 worth of damage to a car and a house in Willow Park last June 30.
On Tuesday, she faced an additional charge of trying to steal a 50 inch TV from Aldi on November 11 after being seen on CCTV.
