More news in brief
A Belfast man from a "very respectable family", who told gardaí he was making €500 a week distributing cocaine after being made redundant, has been given nine years in consecutive sentences.
Liam Cullen (27), Hayward Terrace, Aungier Place, Clonee, Co Meath spent his €5,000 redundancy package on gambling, drink and drugs.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing cocaine valued at more than €246,000 between November 2005 and July 2006.
Judge Patricia Ryan declined to impose the presumptive minimum 10-year sentence for drugs valued at over €13,000, saying mitigating factors called for a reduced penalty.
Judge Ryan was told by Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that Cullen's father was a civil servant and his mother a librarian. He said Cullen suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and had a serious gambling problem for which he has sought treatment.
Suspended term for stabbing wife
A Lithuanian hotel worker who stabbed his wife in the neck in a shop and then tried to commit suicide in a nearby apartment, has been given a five-month suspended sentence at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.
Olegas Tiatovas (31), who returned from Lithuania to stand trial, had denied assaulting his wife, Geidre Tiatovas, causing her harm at an Amnesty International shop in Galway, on October 9th, 2006, and a jury was sworn in to hear evidence. He then pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault and the jury was discharged.
Traveller sues 'Sunday World'
A man has claimed before a High Court jury that he was libelled in a front-page Sunday World story which alleged he was a "Traveller drug king" .
Martin McDonagh (45), a settled Traveller and businessman of Cranmore Drive, Sligo, is suing the Sunday World over an article published on September 5th, 1999, following his arrest during an investigation by gardaí into a major drugs seizure in Tubercurry, Co Sligo, that year.
The newspaper denies libel. The action opened yesterday before Mr Justice Éamon de Valera and continues today.
Judge criticises parents of girl (16)
A judge has criticised the parents of a teenage girl found guilty of an attempted house break-in, saying they had deprived the child of an education for nine years and were "living in the 19th century".
The 16-year-old Roma girl, who is originally from Romania but came to Ireland with her family in 1999, had been found guilty at the Children's Court of trespass with intent to commit an offence at a house, in Sans Souci Park, in Booterstown, Co Dublin, on September 6th last year.
Judge Aingeal Ní Chondúin said: "It really sickens me to see a child like this, it is neglect, abuse, it's not right."
The girl had two previous convictions, one for burglary and another for trespassing with intent.
Court orders extradition of man
The extradition to Sweden of a man wanted in connection with armed robbery and arson was ordered by Mr Justice Michael Peart at the High Court yesterday.
Thomas Ollsen was arrested last July on foot of an extradition warrant in relation to four offences of organised or armed robbery and arson. He has 21 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.