Howth Junction Pair Found Guilty Of Violent Disorder

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CCTV - Howth Junction - April 1st 2021

Two youths have been found guilty of violent disorder which resulted in a girl being knocked under a stationary train.

Security footage showed the 17-year-old girl falling between a platform and a train carriage on April 1st, 2021 at Howth Junction Dart station.

Three 17-year-old boys were subsequently charged with violent disorder, while one faced a further charge of assault causing harm at the Circuit Court.

The prosecution’s evidence included CCTV footage, as well as a security guard’s body camera in addition to a testimony from a second girl who had interacted with the group.

The court heard that security had put ten youths off a train due to anti-social behaviour before the incident, but they were still on the platform as the girls tried to board the train.

The court heard that one of the boys swung his foot from his bike, brushing her head.  The girl described the event as “daunting” as “one of them lunged at me”.

Not long after the second girl was knocked from the platform under the train.

Presiding Judge Peter Kelly said there was a clear evidence of violence with ‘lunging‘, a ‘body-check‘, several gestures and one making physical contact with the witness.

He noted that the two accused had no prior convictions and adjourned sentencing to June to allow for the preparation of probation reports.