A TEENAGE BOY will appear at the Juvenile District Court in Dublin this afternoon charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of Azzam Raguragui earlier this month.

Azzam Raguragui, 18, who was due to sit his Leaving Certificate this summer, was stabbed during a row at Finsbury Park, Dundrum on 10 May last.

The Dundrum teen was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being rushed to St James’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Gardaí charged a teenage boy today, and brought him to appear before Judge Brendan Toale at the Dublin Children’s Court.

The south Dublin boy, aged 16, who cannot be named because of his age, was charged with murder of Azzam Raguragui, contrary to common law, at Finsbury Park.

Dressed in a grey and cream tracksuit and clutching a navy blue baseball cap, the youth did not address the court during his hearing.

He sat on the defendant’s bench with his hands on his lap and was accompanied to court by his father and his solicitor Jonathan Dunphy who sat close to him.

Evidence of arrest was given by Detective Sergeant John White.

He told Judge Toale the boy was arrested for the offence of murder, at 11.23am on Tuesday at Dundrum Garda Station. His father was with him when he was arrested, the court heard.

He was detained under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 but released from those provisions today and he was then charged at 12.14pm.

“He made no reply to the charge after caution and was given a true copy of the charge sheet in the presence of his father,” Detective Sergeant White said.

Judge Toale was furnished with a statement of the means from the boy’s father and legal aid was granted.

He said he had no jurisdiction in relation to bail.

Dunphy consented to a State application for the boy to be remanded in custody to appear again at the Children’s Court on 5 June next.

Once it was confirmed there was a bed available in the Oberstown Detention Centre, Judge Toale ordered a one-week remand in custody.

The teen spoke briefly to his father as he was escorted from court and his solicitor was granted permission to speak with him in the courthouse cells after the hearing.

Due to the nature of the charge, the boy will have to apply for bail in the High Court.

He cannot be identified because he is under 18, a minor. Section 93 of the 2001 Children Act states nothing can be published or broadcast that leads to the identification of juvenile defendant.

Hundreds attended the funeral service of Azzam Raguragui at Clonskeagh mosque in Dublin on 17 May. The youth was in De La Salle before attending Ballinteer Community School for fifth and sixth year.

His parents, father Abdurrahman and mother Hajoba, are originally from Morocco and came to Ireland in the late 1990s.

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