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Howth: Teen Accused Of Assault...

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Howth: Teen Accused Of Assault Causing Harm To Face Trial

Tom Douglas
Tom Douglas

04:12 18 Jan 2022


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A youth accused of knocking a teenage girl ‘head-first’ under a DART at Howth Junction Station has been sent forward for trial.

CCTV footage showed the 17-year-old girl falling between the platform and a stationary train after the incident on April 1st last year.

She was helped back onto the platform by her friends and Irish Rail staff.

Three 17-year-old boys have since been charged with violent disorder over the incident.

One of the boys was also charged with assault causing harm to the girl.

At a preliminary hearing in the Children’s Court last month, Judge Paul Kelly refused jurisdiction on the assault charge and held that the case was too serious to stay in the Children's Court.

The teenager appeared again today to be served with a book of evidence, accompanied by his parents and solicitor Ellen Reid.

Judge Kelly sent the boy forward for trial in the Circuit Court, where he will face his next hearing in March.

The Children's Court had heard that 10 –15 youths, "shouting and roaring", caused a disturbance on a train.

The then-16-year-old boy, who had a bicycle, allegedly used his handlebars to lunge at one girl striking her knee and "as a result, she fell down off the platform head-first".

A security man raised the alarm with the train driver and pulled the girl from under the train back onto the platform.

She had a cut knee and a bad cut and bruise on her back and was visibly distressed and in shock.

The court heard she was in Leaving Cert year at the time and already suffering from anxiety.

Afterwards, it was difficult for her to go to school, where she would spend "most of her day in the toilet crying".

However, her parents took her out before her exams, and she was getting help, the court heard.

A Garda told the court she was on medication and “going through a difficult time”.

Reporting from Tom Tuite.

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Howth Junction Train Train Platform Trial