17-year-old charged with sexual offences granted bail days after breaching conditions

A 17-year-old youth charged with sexual offences against a girl under 16 has appeared at Derry Magistrates' Court charged with breaching his bail a matter of days after it was granted.

The youth, who cannot be named due to his age, was charged with sexual assault by penetration on a female on a date between January 16 and May 1, 2025.

He was also charged with inciting a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity on a date between January 16 and April 20, 2025.

The youth also faced a charge of assaulting the same female on May 27, improper use of the communications network and criminal damage to a cell microphone belonging to the PSNI. 

The youth, who is a resident of a children's home, had been granted bail last week on condition he does not enter the city side of Derry, that he abides by all the rules of the children's home including not being alone with anyone under 18, that he has no contact with the alleged injured party, has no internet enabled devices and observes a curfew and wears a tag.

He appeared today charged with breaching his bail by being in the room with another boy under 18.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said it appeared to be a case of a 17-year-old 'pushing boundaries' and he believed the youth 'would struggle to stick to the ball conditions'.

The solicitor said that there were no females present during the breach of bail.

District Judge Conor Heaney said the youth was back in court a matter of days after being granted bail.

He warned the youth that the courts 'will lose patience' and if he found himself in court again for breaching his bail he might not receive such a 'favourable' outcome.

He re-released the youth to bail on the same conditions to appear again on June 17.