Kildare Judge admits he is puzzled by fellow judge's decision in juvenile case

A Naas District Court judge said that he was puzzled by a fellow judge’s decision in a court case involving a teenage boy.

The comments were made by Judge Desmond Zaidan at the courthouse during an in-camera (in private) court session, which was held on Thursday, April 20.

He was presiding over a case in which a teenage boy assaulted another teenage boy, and on a date in October of last year, he read out a victim impact statement handed in by the injured party.

On the latest court date, defending solicitor Barry Powderly told Judge Zaidan that his client pleaded guilty to the offence, and was remorseful over what had happened.

He also noted two positive probation reports, which were handed over to the judge.

However, when it emerged that a previous judge accepted jurisdiction over the case, this surprised Judge Zaidan.

The judge said: "Who was the judge? I want to know.

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"How did they think this was a 'slap on the wrist' offence?"

When he was informed that Judge Michéle Finan made the decision, he said: "She is entitled to do it, but this is not a minor offence."

After consideration, he said that while he noted the mitigating factors in the case, he still cited the seriousness of the assault, and sentenced the teenager to ten months in a juvenile detention centre.

This prompted his mother to interject, and although she was allowed to briefly testify in defence of her son and said he had made good progress since the offence, Judge Zaidan did not change his verdict.

He fixed recognisance for the boy at €200.