A petition has been launched calling for law reform on juvenile crime in Ireland following a recent spate of horrific attacks in Dublin carried out at the hands of young people.
Just in the last four weeks alone, there have been vicious and large teen attacks in Sutton, Portmarnock, Baldoyle, Tallaght, Ringsend and Kilbarrack which has seen countless injuries and various innocent parties being threatened and assaulted.
Petition organiser Peadar Lutzu is calling on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to not only increase Garda presence throughout Dublin to tackle the escalating violence among young people but to also rethink current Irish law towards juvenile crimes.
He has slammed recent behaviour among Dublin youngsters as "unacceptable" saying that "juvenile crimes are on the rise in Ireland" where "hordes of youngsters, mainly teenagers, armed with knives, screwdrivers and hammers terrorise entire suburbs of Dublin who now live in fear."
Speaking to Dublin Live, Peadar said that he feels as though nobody is looking at the surge in anti-social behaviour in Dublin.
He said: "What's happening out there is appalling. Lots of people are suffering in silence and living in fear.
"I just don't know why the Government do not want to clamp down on this."
Peadar said that the blame also falls fully on the shoulders of these teen gangs' mams and dads.
He continued: "Parents are clearly failing in their role as educators and guardians.
"At the same time, the Irish law towards juvenile crime is way too lenient and certainly not serving the purpose of deterring such criminal and vile acts.
"We need a radical reform of the law, a judiciary and juvenile rehabilitation system so that any young person committing any serious offence should be held accountable."
He added: "As well as this, we need a much stronger Garda presence in all of the areas that over the last few years have seen a worrying escalation of antisocial behaviour especially committed by youngsters.
"It is time to step up before it's too late. We desperately need to try to prevent these youngsters from becoming part of another generation of lawless criminal gangs. This is our future society, we need to act before it gets badly compromised."
He concluded: "We need people's help, we need to stop the surge of violence and restore the peace and quietness that everybody should be entitled to."
The petition has almost reached its target of 1,500 signatures. If you would like to sign it or find out more information, you can find it here.
