The teenage girl who confessed to the murder of Dublin chip shop owner, Franco Sacco, walked free from the Central Criminal Court yesterday after agreeing to conditions governing the suspension of her sentence. The girl, who is now almost 17, cannot be named because she is a minor.
She was sentenced by Mr Justice Carney on June 19th to seven years' detention for the murder of Mr Franco Sacco (29) at his home in Coolamber Park, Templeogue, on March 20th, 1997. On the night Mr Sacco was killed, the girl entered Rathfarnham Garda station and confessed to shooting him. She was 151/2 at the time. On Monday, the three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that her sentence should be suspended, as the State provides no place of detention for young women. She was due to be released from Oberstown detention centre for girls later this month and her counsel had argued that the only alternative place of detention was Mountjoy women's prison.
Yesterday morning before Mr Justice Carney in the Central Criminal Court, the girl's barrister, Mr Michael McDowell SC, applied for his client to enter into a bond to be of good behaviour for the remainder of her sentence.
The probation service wanted to put in place a formal review of the three-year probationary regime to be set for the girl and the court heard this was likely to be complete within three months.
Mr Peter Charleton SC, for the State, said that what concerned him was that there be "a specific probationary programme set up" for the girl for the three years.
There were three conditions attached to the bond, which was set at £100. They were: that she attend at the Central Criminal Court on November 6th and any adjournment thereafter; that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the remainder of her sentence, and that she follow the probationary programme put in place for her. After agreeing to the bond, the girl walked from the court.