A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Bergen on Sunday afternoon, in the immediate vicinity of a stolen car.
– He tends to use cars that are not his. It happens so often that we see no alternative but to imprison him, despite his young age, says police lawyer Linn Mari Søfteland to BA.
The boy will be produced on Monday for remand, charged with car theft, driving while intoxicated and driving without a licence.
The prosecution is asking for two weeks in custody for the accused, which is the maximum that can be asked for people under the age of 18.
– It is not good to put children in prison
Pre-trial detention for traffic law violations is unusual – as is the detention of minors. However, this is not the first time the prosecution has tried to get the teenager behind bars.
Søfteland confirms that it is the same boy as in September was charged for the same matter. The court then chose to release the boy against a so-called custody surrogate, for example an obligation to report.
The following month he stayed produced for custody againand this time the court agreed to remand him for two weeks.
– We strongly disagree with the ruling, and it was appealed on the spot. It is not good to put children in prison, wrote the boy’s defender Cecilie Wallevik in a text message to BA after the decision.
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The defender reacts: – It is not good to put children in prison
– Dangerous
The 17-year-old is from another place, but lives in Bergen.
– We are concerned when you drive while intoxicated, without driving training. It is dangerous both for the driver and for others in traffic, says Søfteland.
Cecilie Wallevik is the boy’s defender. She has no comment on the matter.
