A roundup of today's other courts news in brief
Ex-Brother pleads guilty in abuse case
A former Christian Brother who admitted to indecently assaulting six pupils at two Dublin schools more than 40 years ago has been jailed for 12 months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Diarmuid Ó Luanaigh (75), Bettyglen, Raheny, Dublin, pleaded guilty to 10 sample charges of indecent assault between September 1965 and April 1972.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said the abuse perpetrated by the former maths teacher had “travelled with” his victims, despite the age of the offences. She said a report from the Granada Institute had identified Ó Luanaigh as being at a low risk of reoffending and, that after intensive psychotherapy, he now understood the seriousness of his offences.
However, Judge Delahunt said she also had regard to the seriousness of the offences and that Ó Luanaigh’s plea was given very late.
Former priest jailed for abuse of boy
A former priest who was jailed for 12 months earlier this year for sexually abusing an altar boy has been sentenced to another 15 months for a similar offence.
Patrick Hughes (82) “targeted and bullied” his 10- year-old victim, telling him he would make sure he had a miserable life and that he would go to hell.
Hughes, Park Drive Court, Castleknock, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 counts of indecent assault between February 14th, 1970, and February 13th, 1974.
The boy’s parents reported the abuse to Hughes’s superiors in 1974 but nothing followed from this.
In a victim impact report, the now 49-year-old victim said Hughes was “so monstrous it was not possible to describe him in words”. He said he had been stonewalled by the church and blackmailed by Hughes into silence.
€1.6m part payment for damage at birth
A young girl with severe cerebral palsy has secured €1.65 million in part settlement of her High Court action over negligence in the circumstances of her birth at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.
Charlotte Barry, now aged four, O’Connell Gardens, Bath Avenue, Sandymount, Dublin, was born severely disabled at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, on September 9th, 2005, and will require 24 hours a day lifelong care. She had sued the hospital through her mother, Aisling Campbell.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill heard yesterday the hospital accepted liability and an interim payment of €1.65 million was being made now.
It was also agreed the child could come back to court for further payments when, it was hoped, new legislation would be in place to provide a general scheme for staged payments in such cases.
Man dies from head injuries in Galway
Gardaí in Galway are investigating the death of a man who was found unconscious with head injuries in the city centre earlier this week.
Gardaí say that they are keeping an open mind about the manner of his death after the man (41) died at lunchtime yesterday.
He had been on a ventilator at University Hospital Galway overnight.
The man was discovered close to midnight on Monday at the back of a hostel where he lived close to the Ceannt Station in Eyre Square.
A full Garda investigation has been launched, with gardaí examining CCTV footage close to the railway station.