Christmas custody for 15-year-old

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7144281.stm

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A 15-year-old girl is to spend Christmas in custody because she is "out of control", a High Court judge has ruled.

She is accused of stabbing another 15 year-old girl in the neck with a steel razor she had hidden up her sleeve.

The alleged incident happened in Belfast last April.

Lord Justice Girvan said the girl had been given many opportunities to comply with previous bail conditions but had manifestly failed to do so.

Refusing bail, he said: "The evidence points to her being out of control and therefore a risk to herself and the public."

I ask for a final chance in view of her age and that it is coming up to Christmas Defence lawyer The girl, who cannot be named because she is under 18, is charged with causing grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon.

She had previously been released on bail on strict conditions, but the court heard that her mother phoned police after she failed to return home, and she was arrested in a "squat" in Belfast on 2 December.

Objecting to bail, a prosecution lawyer said social workers had told police that she had been drinking alcohol and was threatening and abusive to other residents in a juvenile justice centre.

"The children's home say she is out of control and that there is nothing they can do for her," she said.

A defence lawyer said the girl had pleaded guilty and her case would be dealt with next month.

"I ask for a final chance in view of her age and that it is coming up to Christmas," he said.