More news in brief.
Teenager (17) died after taking ecstasy
A Cork teenager died after taking ecstasy, a coroner's court heard yesterday.
A short inquest into the death of 17-year-old Jonathan Kiely, Avondale Court, Passage West, Co Cork, on January 7th, heard that he died as a result of the ingestion of MDMA (the chemical name for ecstasy).
Insp John Quilter made an application to have the matter adjourned until September as criminal proceedings were still being contemplated. The inquest was put back to September 6th.
Suspended term for former garda
A retired garda who was convicted on three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court last February has been given a six-year suspended sentence by Judge Donagh MacDonagh.
The Mayo man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, pleaded not guilty to the charges, which occurred between June 1st, 1994, and September 20th, 2000. The incidents occurred when the female victim holidayed at the defendant's home.
Six men on ATM skimming charges
Six men were yesterday charged with attempting to skim ATM machines in Waterford. All six, Romanian nationals in their 20s and based in the Dublin area, were charged with the possession of articles used in skimming.
Skimmers attach a device to the card reader entry slot, which records the magnetic strip details. Meanwhile, the pin number is recorded by a miniature camera or an accomplice who looks over the user's shoulder. A clone of the customer's ATM card can then be made.
Gardaí arrested Adrian Barladeanu (25), Gabriel Ciobuna (27), Radu Ciubotaru (22), Constantin Dura (28), Constantin Herghelegiu (21) and Marius Lacatusa (23) at the Tesco car park, Poleberry, in the city on Thursday last.
Items including a "skimming unit and a camera unit to capture customers' pin numbers" at another ATM in the Applemarket, Waterford last week were confiscated.
Judge William Harnett further remanded all six to Cork Prison to appear at the court again on Friday morning.
Security guard broke into house
A security guard threatened to slit a man's throat if he reported a robbery at his home, a court heard yesterday.
John O'Reilly (18), Kilbarry Halting Site, Waterford, broke into Michael Healy's home at Morrison's Avenue in the city on March 25th, 2006.
The defendant, who has no previous convictions and works part-time as a security guard in Kilbarry, was caught by gardaí leaving through a window at the rear of the house. Judge William Harnett adjourned the matter to October 11th, pending a probation report.