Two drunken youths who admitted bombarding cars on the M2 motorway with boulders from a north Belfast bridge in March were yesterday ordered to be detained by the Belfast Crown Court.
Judge David Smyth told Stephen Johnston (18) and Clifford Oakes (18) that, despite their exemplary backgrounds, legitimate public interest demanded custodial punishment.
However, he said Johnston, from Monkstown, and Oakes, from Lisburn, had already suffered and would not be in trouble again, therefore he would give each the minimum sentence of six months' detention.
After hearing that one piece of rubble had flattened the empty passenger seat of one of the cars, Judge Smyth told them they were fortunate not to be facing a manslaughter charge and up to 10 years in jail.
Garda and wife in baby investigation
A Dublin-based garda and his wife are being investigated following a formal complaint about the alleged abandonment of a five-week-old baby in a Galway hotel.
The incident happened eight days ago at the Connemara Coast Hotel, Galway, while the Garda Representative Association was holding its half-yearly conference.
According to local sources, a couple from Co Meath alerted hotel staff late in the evening after they heard a child crying in the adjoining bedroom. It is understood the child may have been alone for two hours.