Given the seriousness of the alleged offence, a Children’s Court judge has refused to hear the case of a teenage boy accused of knocking a girl “head first” under a DART.
That means his case will be heard before the Circuit Court, which deals with jury trials and has broader sentencing powers if an accused person is convicted.
Last April, CCTV footage emerged of a 17-year-old girl falling between the platform and a stationary train at Howth DART station.
She was helped back onto the platform by staff and her friends. Three teenage boys have since been charged with violent disorder.
One of them is also facing a charge of assault causing harm to the girl.
Before deciding whether to hear his case before the Children’s Court, Judge Paul Kelly today watched the video footage.
A Garda told him it would be alleged that the 16-year-old used the handlebars of his bicycle to lunge at the girl, causing her to fall down off the platform, “head first.”
Judge Kelly decided the two older boys had a peripheral role in what happened, and he agreed to hear their cases, but refused jurisdiction in the youngest boy’s case.
He’ll be served a book of evidence in due course and sent forward for trial to the higher court.
