A TEENAGER would be "an old lag" with half his life spent behind bars by the time he was 23, a judge said yesterday when he jailed him for four years.
Shane Widdess (19), of St Ronan's Park, Clondalkin, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two (burglaries on December 20th, 1995, and on March 2nd, 1996. He also admitted the unauthorised taking of a car.
Judge Cyril Kelly was told Widdes received his first term of detention when aged 12.
Mr Patrick Marrinan, defending, said Widdess presented a dilemma. People looked at this type of crime and said "throw away the key" but that did nothing either for society or the culprit who just came out more streetwise from "the university of crime".
Judge Kelly said, the case epitomised the depressing daily ritual in the court of young people with addiction problems who offended to pay for it. He said Widdess would be "an old lag" already when he was 23, with half his life spent in custody. He fixed June 20th, 1998, as a review date of four-year sentences on each charge.