Kildare juvenile court case struck out due to lack of correspondence from garda

A County Kildare juvenile's court case was struck out due to a lack of correspondence from the prosecuting garda.

The decision was made by Judge Desmond Zaidan at Naas District Court on Thursday, July 4 last.

The juvenile in question appeared before the judge during an in-camera (in private) court session, and was accompanied by one of his grandparents.

The exact nature of the juvenile's offence was not disclosed during this court session.

Defending barrister Donncha Craddock told Judge Zaidan that the case had previously been marked peremptory; this means that if the State is not ready on the next date, the judge will strike the matter out.

Garda Sergeant David Hanrahan noted that there had been no correspondence from the investigating garda in relation to the juvenile's case.

Upon hearing these facts, Judge Zaidan imposed a strike-out without prejudice.

Mr Craddock also told the judge that gardaí had taken some 'personal items' from the grandfather's home as part of the investigation, and added that since that the matter against his grandchild was now struck out, he wanted his items returned to him.

Judge Zaidan told gardaí to return these items to the man's home.

The grandfather thanked the judge for his decision.