Getting caught for speeding in stolen cars just makes juveniles want to gofaster next time, writes Kitty Holland
Being sent to a detention centre for stealing cars just makes those involved "want to get better cars, go even faster" when they are released, young people outside Dublin's Children's Court said yesterday.
Neither being arrested, detained nor recent deaths would deter them from further stealing and so-called "joyriding" in cars.
"Peter" (16) said he had been in stolen cars "about a two times a week" since he was 14. From Finglas, north Dublin, he said he gets cars from around the city - "anywhere, car-parks, outside houses".
"We get them because there's nothing else to do in the area - and the sport. The sport's even better if the police get chasing you. The adrenalin buzz is great."
Asked had he ever been involved in an accident, he said: "Yeah, a few times I was. A few months ago I did an awful smash in Leixlip coming over the bridge; made a jump for it when the coppers came but I couldn't run because my ankle was snapped."
He said neither his numerous appearances before the court nor the threat of a custodial sentence would deter him.
"Why should it? Safe is what I'd feel in a prison."
One boy, aged 14, said the worst that could happen at the court was that his case "gets put back another week".
Four other teenagers, also facing charges under the Road Traffic Act, agreed.
Their sentiments pointed out, said Mr Ian O'Donnell, deputy director of the institute of criminology at UCD, the complexity of dealing with young offenders.
"These (the juvenile offenders) are children who have experience of the legal system, and are not deterred by it. Why they offend and what might make them stop is the critical question, but there has not been a sustained piece of research into these questions in this country."
Mr Liam O'Brien, chairman of the Belcamp Estate Steering Committee, sees so-called "joyriding" incidents in the area on an almost nightly basis. He said one of the factors in children drifting into crime was the fact that the community had " absolutely no facilities".
"Large sums of money are put into the area, into resource centres where you can do out your CV, or into health board offices, but absolutely nothing practical, nothing for facilities for the young people.
"There are local groups trying to organise football, scraping together pennies to bring lads up to play sport in the Phoenix Park. They are the ones making some impact and they are getting nothing."
He called for greater funding for facilities for groups targeting young people.