InShort

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

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

10-years in jail for rape of Dutch woman

A Russian national who raped a Dutch woman in a Dublin city apartment last year and threatened to kill her and her boyfriend has been jailed for 10 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

Jaroslavs Goncarovs (25), a security company worker, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, who worked in Latvia as a policeman before coming to Ireland in 2005, raped the victim some 12 times during an ordeal in which she believed she would die.

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He was arrested in the apartment after the woman's companion escaped via a window ledge to raise the alarm with the assistance of residents in another apartment.

Attempted rape conviction quashed

A 26-year-old man jailed for two years for attempting to rape his foster sister at the home they shared during the late 1990s was released after his conviction was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday. No retrial was ordered.

The court overturned the conviction after finding the jury could have been influenced by information that the alleged victim, when giving evidence, had a mental capacity of a person under eight years of age.

It later emerged that the girl was then preparing to sit a number of subjects in her Junior Cert, two of which were at honours level.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had opposed the appeal.

Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan said this was "an unusual case" and it would be "wrong" to order a retrial. The man had already served part of a two-year sentence, and could have expected to get 25 per cent remission for good behaviour, he said.

The man's name is also to be removed from the sex offenders' register.

Case involving Sky channels settled

An action by British Sky Broadcasting Limited over alleged breaches of copyright has been settled before the Commercial Court on the basis of agreed permanent orders restraining the unauthorised supply of Sky's channels and satellite reception equipment to a number of hotels across the country.

BSkyB Ltd and British Sky Broadcasting Group plc had brought proceedings against Satellite and Television Services Ltd, trading as Aertec, with registered offices at Lucan, Co Dublin, and Liam O'Brien, of Clonteen, Trim, Co Meath.

Yesterday the court was told the case had been settled on the basis of the defendants agreeing to permanent injunctions restraining further infringement of Sky broadcasts.