14-year-old Lucian from Dunajská Streda remanded in custody: grenade, knife and attacks on children
A fourteen-year-old boy from Dunajská Streda faces charges of threats, physical attacks and intimidation of children at school and in a children's home. The district court remanded him in custody.
Fourteen-year-old from Dunajská Streda remanded in custody following series of incidents at school and children's home
A kitchen knife wielded with the threat "I'll kill you!", an object resembling a grenade displayed in front of classmates, and physical attacks on children in a children's home — these are the charges faced by 14-year-old Lucian from Dunajská Streda. According to Nový Čas, the District Court in Dunajská Streda has remanded him in custody due to reasonable concerns that he will continue criminal activity.
The beginning: threat to blow up the school
According to the court ruling, the first incident occurred on 2 October in the morning at one of the primary schools in Dunajská Streda. Lucian allegedly declared in front of classmates that he would blow up the entire school, whilst carrying an object that looked like a black grenade. The presence of this object was confirmed by at least five pupils. The class teacher, who testified before investigators about the incident, filed a criminal report the same day. Law enforcement officers came for the youth only on 16 October in the evening.
Following this incident, the school offered him an individual study plan — he attended school only once a week.
Attacks at the children's home
A few days later, on 9 October, Lucian allegedly engaged in further aggressive behaviour, this time at the children's home where he is growing up with four siblings. He allegedly tore papers from children and pulled their hair. One girl reportedly received a kick to the head, whilst another boy ended up on the floor after the youth threw him from a sofa.
According to testimonies, the fear among the other children was so pronounced that one of them cried and told the carer that she was afraid of Lucian and did not want to sleep in the same room with him. Lucian allegedly threatened the same boy that he would remove the door handles so that the night carer could not enter the room, and that he would beat him.
He allegedly threatened his roommate with beatings using a club and a rod. He subsequently brought these items into the kitchen dining area and showed them to others present, including the day carer.
Knife over a rejected orange
The most serious incident involves a juvenile girl from the children's home. According to the ruling, Lucian pulled out a kitchen knife when the girl refused to share an orange with him and declined to go to the shop to buy popcorn. With the knife in hand, he allegedly threatened her with the words: "I'll kill you!" According to the court ruling, he was holding a sharp grey and red knife in his hands.
Inciting younger children to steal
One of the children's home staff members described further behaviour of the youth to the investigator. Lucian allegedly incited younger children to shoplift at a Lidl store and taught them how to bypass security measures at checkouts — he advised them to unpack stolen items so they would not beep when leaving. The children allegedly handed over the stolen goods to him. In addition, he allegedly encouraged them to watch for when carers left the office door open, and sent them to steal directly from the facility's staff.
Health status and treatment
The ruling also mentions the health status of the accused. One of the children's home staff members stated that Lucian was taken to a psychiatrist for nervousness and school problems. As a psychiatric patient, he was given an increased dose of the medication Risperidone. According to her testimony, there were no problems with him during the period when he was taking the medication.
Lucian's version of events
The testimony of Lucian himself differed in substantial respects from what classmates, the teacher and children from the children's home stated, according to the ruling. Lucian claimed that he showed the object resembling a grenade to only one friend and did so as a joke — he denied that he had spoken to the entire class about blowing up the school. He also rejected several charges of physical attacks at the children's home: according to his account, he did not kick or pull children's hair. He admitted to pulling out a knife twice — once at the girl because he was nervous. He also testified that he did not force any of the children to do things for him, only asked them to massage his legs and arms.
Before the court, Lucian stated that he understood why he was there, but did not wish to comment on the details of his conduct. He could not explain why he behaved as witnesses described during the two days in October. At the same time, he promised that if he remained in the children's home, he would be good and would not repeat such acts.
Remand in custody and further proceedings
Despite the youth's promise, the District Court in Dunajská Streda remanded him in custody. "The judge for preparatory proceedings at the District Court Dunajská Streda remanded the juvenile accused into custody due to reasonable concerns that he will continue criminal activity. The accused filed an appeal against the ruling on remand in custody, on which the Regional Court in Trnava will decide," said Martin Pogádl, spokesman for the Regional Court in Trnava.
In her testimony, which forms part of the ruling, the class teacher further stated that Lucian's verbal aggression was initially directed particularly at girls, but later he came into conflict with boys as well. Several parents complained about his behaviour.
Source: Nový Čas