Son accused of stealing

Hi all looking for advice. My son was at an exibition yesturday. He went in on his own cause his friend had already went up. He was there a while looking for his friend, he saw two lads from our estate and went over to ask them had they seen his friend. They said no and my son walked away. A while later a man and woman stopped in front of him. The guy said were is the ipod you beter have it. I want the ipod or im going to ****en kick the **** out of you till your ****ing blood. He grabbed my son and told him to come with him my son asked were are we going the guy said that he was taking him to his house to sort him and that he wasnt even calling the guards. My son said call the guards and the guy said i am the ****en guards you idiot. Were is the ipod the other lad gave you, my son said he didnt know what he was talking about. he was taken to a side corridor and searched. Then was taking to the station. Seminly the two lads he went over to had been accused of robbing the ipod and the woman said there was a third guy. Nothing was found on any of them. The guard is dening he said this to my lad. He was teriffied and has never ever been in trouble with the guards. What should i do.

I'm no expert, but I would seriously consider bringing your son to a decent solicitor to act on his behalf.

Assuming that he has not been formally charged and that no summons will issue ( if it does, then get a solicitor) you should complain firstly to the superintendant of the station where these guards were stationed and if you are not happy with the outcome of this, then to the garda ombudsman.

I would contact a solicitor and then the Superintendent. That is terrible. I remember, bout 20 years ago, my then 5 year old nephew who was terrible quiet lad, being accused of stealing sweets by a shop owner. He frightened him so bad. My sister returned the favour to the shop owner. Children have rights and should not be spoken to or dealt in this manner. I would have thought for him to be questioned and searched that a parent should be called first. Am I right in saying this?

Teenage boys hate to feel like victims. It is inevitable, as a parent, that you will want something to be done about this. It won't, however, greatly empower the child to be marched down to a solicitor (or to the garda station to receive an apology, if one is forthcoming) by his mother. If he is old enough to go to an exhibition on his own, he is probably old enough to be put in a situation where - with your support -he feels he is tackling this issue himself. So, of course support him, but as far as possible let the choices be his. For example, he may prefer to do a letter to the superintendent himself, with your help.

MOB said:

If he is old enough to go to an exhibition on his own, he is probably old enough to be put in a situation where - with your support -he feels he is tackling this issue himself.

Click to expand...

i dont agree..i think any normal parents would be totally outraged at something like this happening,and would do everything in their power to get to the truth of the matter!

Read my post before disagreeing with it. The son does not need to become the subject matter of the dispute. He is and should be treated as one of the parties to it. I am not suggesting that the parents leave it to him completely:-just emphasising that he needs to feel he has some control over what happens next.

MOB said:

The son does not need to become the subject matter of the dispute. .

Click to expand...

i would have tought the son is very much the subject matter!

Thanks very much for the replys. I am going to make a complaint to the ombudsman and also get advice. There were many wrongs done on the night and i will get to the bottom of this. the fact that the guard lied to my face realy got to me. If he had even just said yes i said that im sorry it was wrong blabla i wouldnt be writing here looking for advice. And after the way he spoke to me and just mentioning his name to people around that he seems to think hes god. That guard had my son terrified hes a huge tall stocky guy so i can see why my son was terrified. And belive me he doesnt frighten easly, i havnt seen him crying like that in a long long time.

No I think in fairness to MOB the point is that the son should not be made feel the pawn in the whole situation.

Em I'd be very wary commenting on this as it's obviously one sided and in my opinion skewed very heavily.

If your son feels strongly about it I would say certainly contact a solicitor for professional advice, I wouldnt hold out for much down the legal route to be honest, a member of the Garda being rude or verbally abusive isnt grounds to take any civil action (although there could be an assault issue here) but certainly grounds to make a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman.

Your son's age will also have a bearing on what action is taken, and by whom.

I'd ask the Garda Ombudsman to take assault and battery charges (as he grabbed him) against the Garda in question.

It would be a great help if you could get any CCTV footage from the event - may show the Garda in question taking your son out. This will be helpful as I'm sure the Garda will deny being heavy handed. Will also help re possible child protection stuff i.e. male garda taking an searching a teenage male etc. without following correct procedures.

If I were me, I'd intiate legal action against the Garda in question for assault, false imprisonment etc. etc. AND put a very very high emphasis on the child protection issue. Even if you dont follow thru fully with the legal action, it wont do the Garda's career any good as the child protection issue will make him look like a potential perve to his superiors.

Also, was the Garda in question on duty at the time or did he just happen to be there?

I would definitely follow the line of assault as your son was obviously terrified.