Mr Justice John Jordan said the boy’s “extraordinary progress” in a matter of weeks is a “testament to what can be achieved” when children get a place in one of the State’s three “special care” units

A boy who should be detained in secure State care on foot of a High Court order is hearing voices encouraging him to kill and harm others, a judge has been told

The CFA had been forced to apply for the detention order for the teen, when he was aged 14, last December.

Repeated disappearances of children has sparked calls for better controls to ensure that they are safe and protected

Specialised training for care workers and gardaí is needed to deal with gangs of men who are grooming teenage girls in State care for sexual exploitation, according to the co-author of a report on the subject

At a Family Law Court sitting, Judge Alec Gabbett said that “is it staggering to hear” that the boy, who is being accommodated at a residential centre has only had one shower in 2023.