Two male youths have been found guilty of violent disorder following a horrific incident which occurred at Howth Dart Station in April last year.
On April 1, 2021, a group of around 10 male juveniles had been kicked off the dart for anti-social behaviour. However, they continued to linger around the platform and began taunting female passengers who attempted to board the train at Howth Dart Station.
As seen via CCTV footage which had been circulating on social media at this time, various girls were lunged at, intimidated and kicked.
In an effort to avoid the group of teenage boys, a 17-year-old girl tripped and fell down in between the platform and the Dart which had stopped to take on passengers. Luckily, a security guard on the platform and other passersby alerted the train driver of the incident before he took off.
They also helped the teenage girl out from under the tracks. It has been reported that she sustained no serious injuries, but she was understandably very shaken and distressed.
Three 17-year-olds had been charged with violent disorder following this incident. However, one of these juveniles had an additional charge of assault to the girl, causing his case to be separated from the other two.
The court case for the other two male youths took place in the children’s criminal court, with Judge Paul Kelly accepting jurisdiction. The two male youths pleaded not guilty, with their defence solicitor Michael Byrne seeking for the case to be dismissed due to a lack of evidence that they used or threatened to use violence.
As reported by RTÉ, the prosecution had CCTV video footage from the station, body-cam footage from the security guard and evidence from another teenage girl who came into contact with the male youths.
Both of the male teenagers had no prior criminal convictions. Judge Kelly adjourned sentencing them for preparation of probation reports and the case will resume next month.
