A DUBLIN TEENAGER accused of violent disorder and assault causing harm when he was 15 has been granted permission by the High Court to pursue a judicial review in a bid to halt his prosecution due to a reported three-year delay in the case.

The teen ended up before the Circuit Criminal Court after he was deemed unsuitable for juvenile diversion in April 2024, because he had, by then, turned 17.

The teenager, who cannot be named, is accused of the offences in Dublin in February 2022 along with five co-accused teens, who got into an altercation with a Polish man who rebuked a group of teenagers for allegedly throwing eggs at a homeless man.

The teen was 15 at the time of the alleged offences and is now an 18-year-old. He denied the allegations when interviewed by gardaí a month after the alleged incident.

At the High Court today, in applying for a judicial review, his lawyers argued for a hearing to injunct his prosecution at Dublin Circuit Court due to a purported delay in the prosecution of children.

In papers lodged at the High Court, it is alleged that a Polish man was talking with a homeless man on Henry Street in Dublin 1 in February 2022, when an egg landed near the homeless man, who then walked away.

It is alleged that the Polish man noticed eight or ten young males nearby, one of whom had an egg in his hand and that he went up to the tallest of the group, patted him on the head and said: “Don’t throw eggs at homeless people, you little c***.”

It is alleged that several teens then kicked and punched the man and forced him to the ground. When he got up, he was further assaulted until a security guard dragged him into a nearby chemist for safety.

The teen was allegedly identified on CCTV by gardaí and presented himself for voluntary interview and admitted his presence at the scene at around 7pm on the night of February 22, 2022, but denied any wrongdoing.

On April 12, 2024, the teen was deemed unsuitable for juvenile diversion, as he was 17. He was sent forward for trial to the Circuit Court.

In papers submitted to the High Court, lawyers for the teenager cite a Supreme Court ruling that said “it is undoubtedly in the interests of children and society as a whole that young offenders should be able to avail of the facilities of the juvenile diversion programme, and so far as possible, to allow for early intervention with young offenders with a view to maximising the opportunity for rehabilitation”.

“These aims cannot be achieved if there is avoidable delay in the persecution of young offenders,” the Supreme Court judgment reads.

At the High Court today, Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty granted leave to appeal, stating there were “certainly arguable grounds” for review.

The teenager is due for arraignment later this month in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.