Derry Court: 'Pointless' imposing curfew on youth says judge

A judge at Derry Magistrate's Court today said that it was 'pointless' to impose a curfew and tag on 16-year-old youth as he could not send him into custody.

The youth appeared charged with the theft of an electronic tag on July 26.

A police officer told the court that this was the youth's 33rd breach of bail and added that he continues to offend. 

Judge McElholm said there was 'nothing' he could do due to the legislation in place regarding the handling of juveniles. 

The judge said 'if we ever get a government here someone will do something about this.' 

He described the current situation as 'a nonsense' in that continuous breaches of bail could not be met with custody. 

A police officer asked the court to remove the curfew condition as it was just a waste of police resources. 

He said that if the youth went missing he would be located and returned to a children's home not as at present where he has to be taken into custody for breach of bail. 

The youth will appear again on August 1.