Fit to plea?: 12-year-old boy with AS accused of trespassing
A 12-year-old Dublin boy who has Asperger’s and ADHD faces a charge of trespassing at Cherry Orchard Community Centre in Ballyfermot, Dublin, on May 8, 2005. According to today’s BreakingNews.ie, as the unnamed boy is “unable to give legal instructions to his solicitor,” the case has been adjourned pending a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). When the boy’s solicitor, Ms. Catherine Ghent, attempted to take “legal instructions” from him,
….. he became distressed and hid by pulling his t-shirt over his head and would not communicate.
The boy’s “fitness to plea” will be decided by the DPP.
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POSTED IN: Asperger's Syndrome, Crime, Legal Issues
1 opinion for Fit to plea?: 12-year-old boy with AS accused of trespassing
Autism Vox
Aug 2, 2006 at 5:32 am
[…] The case of the 12-year-old autistic boy in Dublin who has been accused of trespassing and who pulled his shirt over his head when questioned by his solicitor (see my post yesterday, Fit to plea?: 12-year-old boy with AS accused of trespassing) resonated with me in more than a few ways. I have been reading a novel—Eye Contact, by autism mother Cammie McGovern—in which Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, is the sole witness to the killing of Amelia, a student in his special education classroom. The two children are last seen entering the woods behind their school during recess; Amelia—thought at first to be sleeping by the police—-has been stabbed. […]
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