A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Substance found thought to be cocaine
A 25-year-old man arrested in connection with the discovery of what was believed to be 5kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of €400,000 was released without charge pending the preparation of a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions, gardaí said.
The man was arrested on the Malahide Road, Clontarf, Dublin, at 12.30pm on Wednesday. Gardaí discovered the suspected drug during a follow-up search of an address in the Garristown/Oldtown area of Co Meath. Garda forensic tests are being conducted on the powder to determine whether it is cocaine.
Police foil raid on Belfast jeweller's
Police in Belfast rescued a kidnapped jeweller and foiled a raid on his business.
Police said yesterday the man was taken hostage by robbers who burst into his home in the greater Belfast area and forced him to go to his business in the city. However, the police intervened after the alarm was raised.
A PSNI helicopter was deployed by the Crime Operations Department, and there was a car chase through the city.
The jeweller was rescued and two men arrested in a car in Finaghy Road North, in the southwest of the city. A gun was recovered along with jewellery.
Jailed rapist on hunger strike
A prisoner starving himself to death in protest against a rape conviction is trying to subvert the law by exerting pressure on the state and public opinion, the High Court in Belfast heard yesterday.
The claim was made by a lawyer for the prison service when he applied for a declaration that prison officials may lawfully abstain from giving food to 38-year-old Oswald Brown, who insists he is innocent. He has been on hunger strike in Magilligan Prison for 48 days.
The court heard he had lost 42lbs and his condition had deteriorated in the past three days.
David McMillen, for the prison service, said Brown, a father of two from east Belfast, had been lawfully convicted of rape and was trying to subvert the law by inflicting physical damage - even death - upon himself.
Brown is due to be released on December 20th but Mr McMillen said: "We are proceeding on the basis that we must take action now."
Brown was jailed for six years for raping a student in March 2001. After release he failed to comply with probation terms and was brought back to prison last September.
The hearing was adjourned to Tuesday.