A teenager has lost a Supreme Court appeal after he was refused early release from Oberstown Detention Centre.
This appeal centred on whether children in detention are entitled to be treated the same as adults regarding remission of sentences.
It was previously accepted children in Oberstown are allowed the standard rate of one-quarter remission, if they are well behaved.
But solicitors for this boy claimed he should have been entitled to apply for enhanced remission of one-third, as prisoners are.
He was sentenced to three years' detention after pleading guilty to robbery in 2017 - with 20 months suspended.
In 2018, he applied to get out early and be considered for enhanced remission.
He was refused, and his solicitors argued this placed him in a worse position than an adult prisoner and was unfair.
He sued through his mother but, in a Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday, judges dismissed it.
They say the Children's Act distinguishes clearly between adults and children.
