Tusla Age Inquiry: Suspect's Harrowing Journey to Ireland Revealed in Court

Details of a Somali asylum seeker's journey to Ireland were heard in Dublin District Court during an age inquiry. The individual is accused of murdering 17-year-old Ukrainian Vadym Davydenko in Donaghmede, Dublin, on October 15th last year. Tusla, which initially deemed him a minor last August, now believes he is not a child and applied for the inquiry. He remains on remand at Oberstown Children Detention Campus.

His barrister, Deirdre Lynch, read from Tusla's eligibility assessment report, detailing his escape from Somalia in 2021 after Al-Shabaab took his father and tried to force him to join their army. He was tortured, imprisoned, and later dressed as a woman by his uncle to facilitate his escape. They traveled to Libya in 2022, where he was held for eight months, forced to work, and fed one meal a day. They then attempted a sea crossing where his uncle drowned after their boat collapsed.

He was subsequently imprisoned again, sexually assaulted, and beaten by police, requiring hospital treatment. He then joined a group of Somalis to reach Italy, landing in Lampedusa, Sicily, in February 2023. He was registered in Bologna in June 2023 and arrived in Dover on a small boat in October 2023.

Det Sgt Mark Quill, leading the murder investigation, stated his "categoric" view that the suspect was over 18 at the time of the alleged murder. This was partly based on a Dundee social work report suggesting he was "significantly over 18." However, the Dundee social worker, Kelly Coyle, testified she thought he looked "young, a teenager" but assessed him as over 18 in a "brief age inquiry" of about 30 minutes. Judge Conor Fottrell called it "extraordinary" that Tusla had conducted a second, more recent age assessment but was not presenting it to the court, emphasizing the need for all relevant information for such a serious decision.