Is it it time for "children" who commit adult crimes to be treated as criminals?

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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5 teenagers rob a car, rob houses apparently, and drive the wrong way down the motorway. Had they been caught, they should have been treated just like any other criminals. They knew exactly what they were doing. What is worse is that they knew that had they been caught, the justice system would have treated them as children.

Two teenagers allegedly murdered a man while he pleaded for his life and they go to Oberstown.

www.irishtimes.com

Teen boys to be charged with murder following fatal assault in Blanchardstown

Alex Coughlan (37) suffered serious injuries after he was assaulted on Mill Road at around 4.20pm on May 17th
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com

I don't see why they should be treated any differently if they are found guilty.

Brendan
 
Agreed. There's an extremely worrying level of wanton lawlessness out there among a specific cohort of male teenagers - many of whom appear to be completely out of control and beyond the law. There are few, if any sanctions in this country for bad behavior and these kids (and their parents) know it.

It's deeply concerning to see friends and even close relatives of the deceased perpetrators describing them online as "legends." The Irish Times is correct in describing it as "reckless nihilism."

I don't see any change for the better happening anytime soon.

www.irishtimes.com

The Irish Times view on the M9 crash: reckless nihilism

The culture that produced Sunday’s carnage must be named for what it is
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com
 
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Literally no deterrent, do the crime and get out in a fraction of the sentence " cos we donts haves much space in de prisons....if only der was some way we could not do dis"

Perhaps build more prisons?

Which Govt party used to pride themselves on being the party of law and order?
 
"The social media platforms on which this material circulates are not innocent or passive actors in this process. When footage glorifying lethal and illegal driving, along with other crimes, is posted, shared and amplified, the companies that host it bear a responsibility they are conspicuously failing to meet. They should be removing such content, preserving it as evidence and cooperating with the Garda, rather than allowing it to inspire imitators.

The State has a responsibility to force these companies to act more responsibly."

The quotation is from The Irish Times article above. I agree 100%. Further, the government needs to recall the Dáil, and a) enact emergency legislation compelling the companies to take down the offending posts, and b) identify the owners/poster/reposters of the offending material. The new legislation should allow for fines, say $100m / day or one day's revenue, whichever is greater, to be levied on the companies that fail to comply. Failure to pay the fines should lead to the imprisonment of the COO/CEO/Company Secretary until there is full compliance with the laws and payment of fines.

The owners/posters/reposters should be arrested and prosecuted and pending trial, be disallowed from having access to social media as part of their bail conditions. Anyone found to help them breach their bail conditions gets the same treatment as the original accused. If found guilty of the offences, they should be blacklisted and never have access to social media accounts in the lifetimes.

"It also needs to equip its own officers with what they require to do their jobs properly. Gardaí are placed in an invidious position. Forbidden from pursuing vehicles that drive against traffic, they need better training, clearer legal protection and indemnity, and modern technology such as drones that can track offenders without endangering the wider public."

All of that but what about closing roads? Two 40-ft artics parked nose-to-tail across the carriageway will block most roads in the country and there is a simple way to prevent drivers turning onto the wrong carriageway or slip road from a roundabout. I'm amazed no-one has thought of it before now.
 
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Unfortunately prescient from Prime Time April 2026

"How the Lucky Dip gang is fuelling a car theft crisis

As car thefts in Ireland hit a 12-year high, a loose network of teenage joyriders is at the heart of a growing crime wave.

For the brother of Michael Farrelly, killed in a hit-and-run by a stolen car, the crisis is personal — and the justice system, he says, is failing to respond.

Forty-one-year-old Dubliner Michael Farrelly spent the final evening of his life watching Riverdance with family members in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. They then went for food and drinks near where he lived in Sutton, Co Dublin.

After midnight, they said their goodbyes and Michael began walking home.

By 1am he was on the ground, dying, mown down in a hit-and-run by a stolen car.

Two teenagers are suspected to have been in the car, which had been stolen in Malahide."

"The hit-and-run is a deep tragedy for the Farrelly family, but it also exposes a deep weakness in our criminal justice system.

Nobody has been charged yet in relation to the incident. Prime Time understands there are two suspects and both are known car thieves. One of them has already amassed more than 40 convictions in his young life.

"At least one of the people in the car was actually on bail and under curfew at the time the accident happened," Conor said. "He shouldn't have been out. He should have been at home."

After Michael Farrelly was killed, the teenager didn't give up joyriding. He has since been arrested or prosecuted in relation to eight separate incidents, including four car thefts.

"It’s shocking, you know? Like to think that someone can have that many convictions, take a life and still be getting arrested. That's once a month since it happened. It's just a very difficult thing to hear," Conor said.

The suspect in the hit-and-run with more than 40 convictions has since turned 18. He is in detention, having been arrested as an adult in relation to a recent car theft."
 
There's a bizarre post from The Irish Daily Mirror online where "friends and family have paid tribute to the five teenagers who passed away". It includes a headline which states: "BMW involved in M9 horror smash was purchased for just over €1,000 days before tragedy".

I'm deliberately not sharing a link to this totally inappropriate content but how desperate must that rag be for clicks to put that nonsense up? An apology from friends and family for the behaviour would be more appropriate. I cannot get my head around just how bad this is ; the lowest of the low.
 
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Brendan Burgess said:
And a lot of the focus is on the Fiosrú investigation into the Gardai.

There are only 5 people to blame here - the 5 teenagers.
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100%.
Drives me nuts reading about Gardai trying to do a difficult stressful job, being hauled in front of these " investigators" to justify every second of an extremely fast moving pursuit.
Lasting years in a lot of instances.

Read recently thst individual Gardai are getting points on their own licence for speeding (in pursuit) of criminals!

This hamstringing benefits no one but the criminal who know they only have to ramp up the dangerous driving to have a pursuit stopped.

If I was a Guard, I would be extremely disspirited by this absolute nonsence. We ask them to do a difficult job then make their lives hellish when they try and do it.

Its beneath contempt.
 
Good reminder on Drivetime yesterday that we had similar problem in the 80s which led to opening of Spike Island. mainly for joyriders.
 
Persia said:
Perhaps build more prisons?
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Don't be going talking common sense - we don't like it in this country. And when the Government even dared to budget for expansion of the number of prison spaces, the Penal Reform Trust issued a press release saying how "disappointed" they were and that prison is not the answer for these vulnerable people etc.

www.iprt.ie

IPRT Statement on Budget 2026

Budget 2026 provides a welcome increase in Probation funding, however additional prison spaces will not solve our prison overcrowding crisis, says IPRT
www.iprt.ie www.iprt.ie

We have consistently highlighted that the answers to prison overcrowding are not found in bricks and mortar, but in solutions that address the root causes of offending behaviour, establish community-based alternatives to short prison sentences, and invest in person-centred interventions to prevent reoffending. We are therefore disappointed that Budget 2026 continues to prioritise creating new prison spaces, which will not address the overcrowding crisis in either the short or the long term.
 
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