THE mother of a 15 year old Co Meath boy who is charged with murder and robbery in New York is pleading for leniency for her son.
A New York grand jury will hear evidence today against Robert Bright, from Dunboyne, who is charged with murder and robbery in connection with the armed raid at a Long Island delicatessen on December 7th.
The Meath teenager was caught on videotape as he held up a store clerk at gunpoint during the robbery of the Doughty Deli in Long Island and has subsequently been charged as an adult. He faces 20 years in prison if convicted.
However, Robert's mother, Ms Mary Bright (39), wants to have her son tried as a juvenile because she claims he was just a stupid child who made a bad mistake. She also claimed a statement he gave to police following his arrest was coerced under threat of the death penalty.
After the robbery, Bright's companion, Richard Robinson, was charged with shooting and killing cashier Mr Mosood Sadiq (32) in a storeroom at the back of the deli, and three others were also charged with robbery.
"He's just a 15 year old kid who made a stupid, stupid mistake," Ms Bright said of her son. "I know he deserves to be punished. There's not a night goes by that I don't think of that poor man's family, but if he is charged as an adult it will destroy our family. I feel so inadequate because I can't help him. I hope we can work on a plea bargain and have him tried as a juvenile. There's no denying what he did and he needs to be punished. A man died, but he's only a kid."
The gun held by Robert Bright was unloaded, although he admits taking the money from the clerk. According to his mother, Robert was deeply unhappy in the US and three months ago tried to cut his wrists.
Robert was receiving psychiatric treatment for the past four months and also weekly counselling at Beach Channel High School in Rockaway, Queens, close to the area where the Bright family - Ms Bright, Robert and 16 year old Davi, an honours student - have lived since going to the US on a Morrison visa in October 1993.
Robert Bright was mugged in October 1994, his mother said, and that incident, combined with his extreme unhappiness, persuaded her to send him back to Dunboyne to stay with her sister. "I missed him and was always on the phone", she said. "And I kept thinking if he was here it would be a good thing. I thought in another three years he could become a citizen so in January 1996 I brought him back. He went back to school and had problems again."
Ms Bright also claims Robert was questioned alone by the police following his arrest, a practice which is illegal if the defendant is under 16. She said police told her if her son did not sign a statement he would be liable for the death penalty. "I asked for a lawyer because I didn't know what to do," she said.
"We were told if there was no statement he was liable for the death penalty and if he gave a statement he would be tried as a juvenile." Robert Bright signed his statement.
Det Lieut Guidice, of the Nassau County Homicide Squad, refused to comment on Ms Bright's allegations. "The case has to be adjudicated and I'm not going to comment on anything she has to say right now," he said.
Robert Bright is being held in isolation under suicide watch in the Nassau County Children's Centre on Long Island. His mother is allowed to visit him on Thursdays and Sundays, so she could not visit on Christmas Day.
"The toughest part is Robert not being here," she said in her small apartment. "All his things are around. He always liked to wear aftershave and I can smell it everywhere."
Ms Bright asked for prayers for her son "This is just a nightmare," she said. "I keep thinking I'll wake up and he'll be here." But she is determined to stand by her son. "He's not a bad kid," she insisted.