In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

Gardaí hold man over fatal stabbing

A 34-year-old man was arrested yesterday in connection with the stabbing to death of a Latvian national in Co Tipperary. Gardaí said he was detained by officers from Thurles Garda station over the killing of Renars Tuleiko (32), in Thurles between April 13th and 15th last.

A Garda spokeswoman said: "He is currently being detained at Thurles Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984."

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Gardaí launched a murder investigation after Mr Tuleiko's body was found in a sportsfield off the Nenagh Road by two men walking dogs on the evening of Sunday, April 15th. The exact time of his death was not confirmed but a postmortem examination revealed he died of a stab wound. Last month a woman appeared in court charged with assaulting Mr Tuleiko.

False rape claim woman walks free

A young woman who admitted making a false allegation that she had been raped walked free from Sligo Circuit Court yesterday after a judge ruled that she had already paid dearly for her "dreadful mistake". But Judge Miriam Reynolds said the case was a "salutary lesson" that false allegations would be taken very seriously and prosecuted.

The judge told Wendy Griffin (24), a native of Tallaght, Co Dublin, with an address at Ballinode, Co Sligo, that she hoped the case would not ruin her life and that she would put it behind her.

She imposed a conditional discharge under the Probation Act on condition that Ms Griffin be of good behaviour for three years and urged Ms Griffin's employers to be "merciful" after hearing she may be dismissed as a result of the conviction.

Ms Griffin pleaded guilty last October to making a false report that she had been raped at the Envy nightclub in Sligo, on October 13th, 2005, when she was a student at the local institute of technology.

Yesterday Judge Reynolds was told that the widespread media attention the case had received had put great stress on the accused and that her suffering was disproportionate to the wrong she had done.

The judge said Ms Griffin had a number of opportunities to withdraw the allegation but she continued with it "up to the last minute". Garda had carried out a lengthy and time-consuming investigation.

Judge Reynolds said "thankfully" no particular person was identified or unjustly accused when Ms Griffin made her allegation so there was no victim.

Dutch flights to Donegal airport

Dutch carrier Fly VLM will operate charter flights from Rotterdam to Donegal airport in Carrickfinn from April to September.

A range of package holidays have been arranged with visitors having the option of seven- or 14-day stays.

The company will use Fokker 50 aircraft and hopes to bring over 1,000 Dutch tourists to Donegal in its first year of operations.