Latest news with #Coco'slaw
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Irish Times
Almost 200 children were responsible for 10 or more criminal cases each in one year
Almost 200 children in the State racked up 10 or more cases each in a single 12-month period, latest Garda figures show. Another 588 children accumulated between four and nine cases each over the course of a year. More than 1,500 had either two or three cases. The figures are contained in the newly published 2023 annual report by the monitoring group for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. When a person under 18 admits to a crime they are automatically referred to the Youth Diversion Programme for assessment and possible inclusion. READ MORE The programme is designed to keep children out of the criminal justice system and usually ends with young offenders being issued with a caution instead of a criminal conviction. However, if a child is deemed not suitable, they are typically prosecuted as normal in the Children Court. Just over 15,800 children were referred to the programme in 2023, with 1,200 being deemed not suitable for inclusion. The latest figures show that a relatively small number of children are responsible for a large proportion of offences which come to Garda attention. Around 3 per cent (197) of children assessed by the programme had been referred 10 or more times in 2023. Of these, 92 per cent were boys. Each referral may include more than one charge. The figure does not include referrals made in previous years. In total, 29 per cent of children assessed by the programme received more than one referral by gardaí during the year. Children who receive more than one referral are far more likely to be rejected by the programme and therefore prosecuted in the criminal courts, the figures show. While the total number of referrals remained broadly consistent with previous years, there were large increases in some offending categories. There were 643 cases of burglary in 2023, a 43 per cent increase on the previous year. Theft-type offences were the most common offence type. There were 4,971 such referrals in 2023, a 5.3 per cent increase. Robbery and driving-under-the-influence offences increased by 9 and 18 per cent respectively. There were 18 cases of young people transmitting harmful communications. This was made an offence in 2022 under what was known as Coco's law, which was designed to tackled 'revenge porn' and online harassment. Cases involving public order offences fell by 13 per cent to 2,284. Drug offences dropped 14 per cent to 1,607. The monitoring group expressed concern about a 45 per cent drop in 'restorative justice cautions'. These are designed to give the young offenders an insight into their crimes and often involve meetings with victims. The group noted the drop in such cautions was partly down to victims not engaging with the process or offenders withdrawing their admission of responsibility. Further training was promised to address the fall in such cautions.
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
MEP urges victims of harassment and coercive control to seek help
MEP Kathleen Funchion has urged victims of coercive control or harassment to seek support in warning that such abuse can be "subtle" and "happens over time". The Sinn Féin politician, whose former partner was this week jailed under Coco's Law, has detailed the lasting distress she endured which brought her to "breaking point". Sean Tryrrell was given a four month prison sentence on Monday, with a sperate four month jail term suspended for two years, for offences under Section 4 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as Coco's law. Ms Funchion said "getting out" of such relationships can be very difficult and urged anyone supporting victims not be judgemental as simply being there to listen is more important. The Irish Examiner originally reported that Tyrrell persisted in making groundless allegations of unfaithfulness and tried to force her to take a lie detector test that caused "very considerable upset". In August 2022, after the couple had fully separated, Tyrrell contacted a national newspaper journalist outlining, what the court heard, was "false information" of domestic violence and financial abuse. He sent a screengrabs of these emails to Ms Funchion and threatened to provide the journalist with her name if she did not agree to a number of demands which included taking the lie detector test and arranging a meeting with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Tyrell also threatened that he would contact the spouses of a number of Ms Funchion's close friends to claim they had been unfaithful in their marriages if she did not comply with his demands. It has changed my life, and not in a positive way. I have very serious issues with trust as a result of this. I don't see that ever leaving me. "No matter what I said, he was adamant that I was being unfaithful in the relationship and I found that very difficult. He wanted me to take a lie detector test, which I would say at one point I was considering doing and I think that shows how it really gets into your head and you really do doubt yourself. "The important thing here is that actually, somebody who is controlling like that, no matter what you do, it's never going to be good enough," she told RTÉ's News At One programme. Ms Funchion thanked Amber women's refuge in Kilkenny who she first contacted for support, before going to gardaí where she was put in contact with the "incredible" protective services unit of the gardaí in Kilkenny. Providing advice to those who may be concerned about a family member or friend, she said: "The best thing you can do is be a support and be a non-judging support. "It can be hard to do that, everyone rushes in to say: 'Get out of the situation, what are you doing in that relationship?' That's the easy thing to say, the difficult thing to do is to sit and be with someone and listen to them and be non-judgmental. And that's what people in similar situations need," she said. In sentencing Tyrell, of 31 Cypress Grove, Loughboy, Kilkenny, Judge Cephas Power acknowledged the guilty plea, but said that he "must have known, and he must have intended" to cause "significant distress" to Ms Funchion through his actions.
