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Crime teen's boast: 'You can't keep me in custody because Oberstown is full'
Teenage criminals are using WhatsApp groups to keep track of capacity levels at the country's main detention centre for young offenders, has learned.
And when they become aware that Oberstown Children's Detention Centre is full, they then embark on 'crime sprees', safe in the knowledge they won't be detained.
Gardaí became aware of the WhatsApp groups after teen criminals taken in for questioning bragged about them during Garda interviews. Oberstown Detention Centre. Pic:
The revelation comes after Oberstown hit the headlines this week, following a court hearing that revealed there was no space for two juveniles at the centre last weekend.
The 17-year-olds were accused, along with two adults, of being armed with a machine gun during a burglary in Shankill in Co. Dublin last week.
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has acknowledged that the number of places for young offenders in detention centres needs to be increased.
The overcrowding problems are now being exploited by teenage criminals who are actively monitoring capacity levels at the Oberstown facility in north Co. Dublin. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos
One senior security source told 'They know when Oberstown is at capacity and, as a result of that, they won't be going into custody. It is then they go on a right spree.'
One teenage criminal arrested recently after a vehicle was hijacked told gardaí about the WhatsApp group during an interview. The source said: 'He was bragging that he would be going home because he knew Oberstown was full.
'The situation came to the fore this week with the juveniles, the machine gun and no bed at the inn, so they couldn't be remanded in custody.'
The overcrowding crisis is also believed to be a factor in a spate of recent violent incidents at the juvenile detention centre.
One Wednesday, nine staff members were assaulted at the facility, four of whom required hospital treatment. Teenagers are becoming aware that Oberstown Detention Centre is full. Pic: Getty Images
Trade union Fòrsa has expressed 'grave concern' for the safety of members working at Oberstown. One Oberstown staff member was left with 'life-changing injuries' after their face was slashed in a 'very serious incident' on June 11, according to Fòrsa.
The trade union said the incident occurred when a residential care worker attempted to move a young person. It also said ten staff have sustained injuries in three violent incidents since June 8.
Mr O'Callaghan, this week, said he was 'very concerned' to hear there was no space for the two 17-year-olds who were involved in the armed burglary in Shankill. They were refused bail after the judge heard a 60-year-old man was 'savagely' beaten in front of his family during the burglary.
When it emerged that Oberstown did not have any room, the teenagers were released on bail under 'house arrest' until their appearance at the Children's Court on Monday.
But one of the boys who was released on Saturday night failed to attend his court hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Mr O'Callaghan said: 'We need to ensure that if people under 18 years of age are charged with very serious offences, that there's accommodation and places available for them to be remanded in custody, and it's a failure that that wasn't available at the weekend.
We need to increase the number of accommodation units available.'
Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Saoirse Brady has called for the introduction of a bail supervision scheme for young offenders, as well as the creation of more secure beds.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One this week, Ms Brady said: 'Judges have been calling this issue out for quite a long time now around the lack of availability of bed spaces in Oberstown for those who may pose a risk to public safety'.
She said recent figures show that on any average day in May at the Oberstown facility, one in three young people were held on remand, meaning they had not been convicted of any offence.
