12 Year Old Murdered in Dublin

This was in the things that are wrong thread, but given its nature, it probably deserves a thread of its own. As feared, there was a sexual assault carried out it seems.

18-year-old charged with Michaela Davis murder

Monday, 30 August 2010 11:47

An 18-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a 12-year-old girl in west Dublin at the weekend.

Jonathan Byrne, of 24 Lohunda Downs in Clonsilla in Dublin, was brought before Dublin District Court this morning and remanded in custody until next Friday.

He is accused of the murder of Michaela Davis, whose body was found on a bank of the Royal Canal on Saturday afternoon.

A post mortem subsequently showed that she had been attacked, sexually abused and strangled.

Mr Byrne, who was dressed in jeans, white runners and a grey hoodie, did not speak during the brief hearing.

Det Sgt Daniel Callaghan from Blanchardstown Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution.

He told the court that he arrested Jonathan Byrne at Blanchardstown Garda Station at 11.30pm yesterday and was present when he was charged by Sgt Joe Delaney.

Det Sgt Callaghan said the accused made no reply to the charge and was handed a copy of it.

Defence solicitor Eugene Dunne applied for and was granted free legal aid.

He also asked that Mr Byrne be given medical attention.

Judge Patrick Clyne remanded him in custody to appear again at Clover Hill District Court next Friday.

The principal of Luttrellstown Community College in Blanchardstown has said that a psychological support service for students is in place.

A ‘critical incident management team’ has also been set up to provide support for pupils following Michaela’s murder.

Michaela was a first-year student at Luttrellstown and attended her first classes last Wednesday.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Fine Gael Councillor Kieran Dennison said the community has been supporting her family.

The principal of St Mochta’s National School, where Michaela had attended until June, said she was ‘a lovely child who had so much to give and to live for’.

Terry Allen said: ‘The thoughts and prayers of our whole school community at this very sad and upsetting time are with Michaela’s family, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy on their tragic loss.’

Not a parent myself, but who would let their 12 year old out after midnight.

Fuckin idiots

My sentiments exactly. Am wondering is there more to come from this story, not sure what sort of home it was, but there are some sort of question marks there over them I think.

Gas the way people jump in to blame the parents rather than the actual murderer. Tard.

I’m pretty sure the murderer will get the lions share of the blame Sid. However its a parents job to protect his/her child from danger. Last time I checked 12 years of age isnt exactly the age to say “ah you’re fine, you’re plenty old enough to look after yourself now”.

are you having a laugh? A 12 yr old girl was apparently raped, strangled and left in a canal and you’re wondering what kind of a house she came from, as if they’re to blame.
clown

I wouldn’t have let the girl out at that time but I’ve been out on street at midnight as a 12 year old. We used to play football on the street until that hour. Look, nobody could think that their daughter is going to be strangled like that.

No twelve year old should be left out on their own at midnight, particularly not a girl. There is sick bastards out there thats the way the world is.

Obviously this cunt should be hung by his ballsack but you have to question the parenting or lack of.

Raped and strangled Sid. They had a duty of care to her. They failed in it. A 12 yo girl, wandering the streets alone after midnight. Sorry, not for me. I think I’ll steer away from asking you for parenting advice when the time comes.

No, I’m being quite serious. Who lets a 12 year old girl out alone at that hour? The rapist is found, he’ll be charged to the laws of the land. But this could and should have been avoided. Maybe some people think its ok to let a 12 year old girl out on the street after midnight alone, I don’t.

Apparently your man was her ‘boyfriend’, I can only assume her parents were oblivious to this

I heard that apparently the girl said she wanted to pop out for two seconds, I don’t know that washed with her parents though. It’s at times like this you’d regret we don’t have the death penalty. :angry: These rape - murders are just heinous beyond belief.

While the cunt that did this is obviously to blame, serious questions must be asked about any parents that let their 12 year old kid out at midnight. Surely there can be no argument against that.

It was mentioned somewhere this morning about “the state failing her” so I’m not sure if maybe she had been in and out of care or something along those lines.

There does seem to be a strange lack of outrage over the crime though. It’s an absolutely sickening incident. What kind of psycho does that to a 12 year old?
He went to the cop shop with his father and handed himself over, so at least that spares people in the locality from the worry that the murderer was on the loose.

Yeah compared to the Wayne O’Donoghue hysteria there a few years ago, it’s very low key. I suppose there was more of a hunt for the body that time, gave time for the media story to build up. This is sickening stuff though. Up there with that rape - murder by that scumbag in Galway a few years ago.

Terrible crime this. From what I understand is that the girl came home on the friday night but said to the folks she was popping out for a few minutes at midnight. Now I think we have all done that before, what has surprised me is that it took 2 hours for the folks to get in contact with the gardai? Also it has been said that she was hanging around with a group that were older than her. If the lad that handed himself in to the guards is 18/19 and as someone above said that he was his girlfriend, What I would be asking is why is a 12 year old girl let have a boyfriend and a 19 year old one at that?

At least the guy handed himself in but still questions have to be asked about the care this girl was in?

Nope

I think you’d be surprised about the differences in more urban areas in terms of teens hanging out late at night. Not necessarily causing trouble or whatever but you get groups just sitting around messing and talking and scheidt. The areas are condensed and there are loads of people living around the estates so it’s not like a rural area where a kid may have to travel a mile or two to meet up with friends. Here’s the boring anecdote but we would often have been sitting around on a wall in front of someone’s gaff or hanging around on the green where we played football pretty late at night at that age. It would have been a mixture of lads and girls and everyone would have been within a couple of hundred yards of their own house. In that context, I don’t think it’s that obscene for her parents not to have been overly concerned when she said she was popping out. Awful news though; RIP.

That’s unfortunate :o

Most normal people will wonder what were the parents at, letting a 12 year old go out at midnight. Granted you don’t expect your child will be raped and murdered when they pop out for a minute, but I think most would prefer to keep their pre-teenage kids indoors after midnight. Maybe the media have scared us into this fear of loosening the apron strings, but every once in a while a horror story will come true.

All blame must, however, be laid at the door of this 18 year old, who should also be old enough to know better. I can’t imagine the nightmare his dad must be going through. Having to accompany your son to the Garda station so that he can own up to killing a child, must be a truly horrible experience.

You can say what you like about different standards between city and country folk. What your parents let you do as a kid, would compare very differently to what parents allow their kids to do now. I was never let out after midnight as a 12 year old, and I wouldn’t allow a 12 year old of mine out after midnight either. Bringing your kids up properly means sometimes (or a lot of times) having to say no to them. It also prepares them for what life will be like when they grow up.