Probe as 10-year-old finds live bullet in school toilets
LIVE ammunition was taken from a 10-year-old boy at a primary school in Limerick city this week.
A garda investigation is under way after the fourth-class pupil was caught showing the 9mm bullet to his friends and classmates by his teacher in the classroom.
Worryingly for the school management, the boy claims to have found the bullet in the school toilets beforehand.
Gardai in the city are continuing to investigate the incident.
Investigating officers are attempting to uncover how the bullet found its way into the toilets of the primary school.
The young boy, who is from the city, brought the bullet into his class on Wednesday morning and was displaying it to his young classmates when his teacher was alerted to what was happening in the classroom.
The bullet was immediately taken from the child and the school principal was informed.
Gardai were alerted and have spoken to the young boy. He claims to have found it in the school toilet.
A school spokesperson told the Irish Independent that the parents of the boy were also informed of the incident.
In recent months, senior gardai in Limerick have claimed that the city's criminals are recruiting children and young teens for their illegal enterprises.
Garda Chief Superintendent Willie Keane said the children and teens sucked into the gangs come from dysfunctional families and families where there is no great parenting skills.
Standards
"Unfortunately, there are no role models in these families, there is no sense of responsibility instilled in these young people and there are no standards either to a certain extent and there is no control for want of a better word," said chief supt Keane.
"These young people hang around the streets and are obviously then prey to the gangs.
"They see the gangs maybe, as family and get drawn and sucked into the gangs.
"Then, they are used to carry out the gang's activities," the senior officer warned.
Earlier this month, a 14-year-old teenager appeared in the juvenile court after he was charged with possession of a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun at St Mary's Park.
The youth was barely four-feet tall and could barely see over the witness box in court.
In a separate incident, gardai recovered a rifle and a handgun in the St Mary's Park area of the city yesterday.
The firearms were found at the back of homes occupied by a criminal gang in the estate.
- Barry Duggan
