A round-up of today's other courts news in brief
Man (62) given nine years' jail for rape of boy
A Wexford man who raped and sexually abused a young boy over a period of four years has been given a nine-year sentence by Mr Justice Roderick Murphy at the Central Criminal Court.
The 62-year-old man was convicted by a jury on January 29th last on 24 charges of anal and oral rape and sexual assault of a now teenage boy on dates from April 1996 to June 2000.
Four years for dangerous driving
A court was told yesterday that an 18-year-old restricted driver ignored the pleas of his two passengers to slow down when he was being pursued by gardaí in Co Donegal, just minutes before he crashed, killing an innocent bystander.
Paul Lynch (20), Aranmore Avenue, Creggan, Derry, was jailed for four years at the Crown Court in Derry after he pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Thomas Long.
Mr Long (47) was killed when Lynch lost control of a Vauxhall Corsa on July 12th, 2007.
Decision reserved in murder appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgment on a South African man’s appeal against his conviction for the murder of his Northern Irish-born wife at their home in Co Meath.
Anton Mulder (47), Maelduin, Dunshaughlin, originally from Durban, South Africa, was found guilty in January 2008 of murdering his wife, Colleen Suzanne Mulder, on a majority jury verdict at the Central Criminal Court.
Mulder denied murdering his wife and his appeal against conviction concluded yesterday. Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding, and sitting with Ms Justice Mary Irvine and Mr Justice John Edwards, said the court was reserving its decision.
Man charged after pipe bombs find
A Dublin man was charged at the Special Criminal Court yesterday with possession of explosives following the discovery by gardaí of pipe bombs in Phibsboro. The discovery was made during Garda investigations into dissident republican activity and an Army bomb disposal team was called to a flat in Ulster Street.
Ciarán Cahill (35), Glenville Drive, Blanchardstown, was charged with the unlawful possession of five pipe bombs. He was also charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, on March 29th.
Abduction trial collapses
The trial of an Offaly man accused of abducting and sexually molesting a young teenage girl nine years ago has collapsed at the Central Criminal Court because of legal issues.
The 45-year-old accused had pleaded not guilty to aggravated sex assault and false imprisonment of a then 14-year-old girl in Co Offaly on November 6th, 2000. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy put the matter back for a new trial in late April.
Jail for drugs possession
A 32-year-old Dublin man who was described by a judge as “vulnerable” has been jailed for six years for possessing €64,000 worth of cocaine in his car.
Judge Desmond Hogan suspended the last 12 months of the sentence he gave to Keith Daly of Kiltipper Gate, Tallaght, accepting he was a “suggestible type”.