Judge Conal Gibbons, convicted and fined a youth who stole €100 from a nun in Ballina District Court this week. The previous week Judge Gibbons had remanded the youth in St Patrick’s Institution for a week, so he could hear from the probation service which had been working with the youth previously.
The judge received a report from the probation service ahead of this week’s court date, but Judge Gibbons expressed his disappointment with the report he was furnished, as the youth was not interviewed by the service prior to its competition. “I’m not happy with the this probation report, I’m actually very unhappy to say the least,” he told the court. “When you ask for a report to be carried out the least you expect is that the person whom the report is on is interviewed by the service.”
The court heard evidence from the youth’s father who said he had brought his son to Mayo away from the family home in Tallaght because there was a family feud going on and he did not want his son getting involved. He said that it was his fault that his son was not in contact with a probation officer for a number of weeks prior to the incident, which occurred on August 12. The youth’s father also said that he had spoken to the probation officers with whom his son had previously been involved in Dublin, and that he would ensure that his son continued to engage with them seven days a week if necessary, if his son was not sent to St Patrick’s Institution.
Judge Gibbons convicted and fined the youth €100.
