Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald

NewsBrands Ireland, the representative organisation for sixteen national news brands, welcomes the decision of the Minister for Justice to establish a review of the legislative system whereby journalists’ phone records have been accessed by the Gardai, GSOC and possibly other statutory bodies.

In a statement released today, they said they were "look forward to providing its views to Judge Murray, who has been appointed to carry out this review.

"However, our clear position is that the current legislative framework breaches the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights because it does not adequately protect the sources and privacy of journalists.

"It is a disturbing feature of the legislation that journalists do not know if their private information has been sought and accessed.  

"Consequently NewsBrands Ireland is calling on the Minister for Justice, Gardai, GSOC and the other bodies involved to clarify the following:

·         How many access requests have been made and granted?
·         Who the journalists involved are?
·         Why this was felt to be necessary and appropriate?

"That information will then form an integral part of NewsBrands Ireland’s submission to the review."

The cannabis factory uncovered in Belfast

A cannabis factory that contained up to 100 plants has been found in South Belfast.

Eddie Girvan

Police investigating the murder of Greenisland pensioner Eddie Girvan are probing a potential link between his death and the sex industry.

"We have been threatened by the tenants of the apartment that are causing the problem"

A man has says he fears for his safety after reporting tenants in his apartment block, who allegedly offered sexual services on Escort Ireland.

Bryan said he reported the illegal activity to the gardai, the Private Tenancies Residential Board (PTRB) and the management company in his building, but has not yet received a satisfactory response.

"There is just no support for tenants.

"We have been threatened by the tenants of the apartment that are causing the problem.

"One night the landlord pointed at my door so the tenants in question know exactly who I am," he told RTE Radio One's Liveline.

Describing them as the "neighbours from hell" he said that the male tenants live a very extravagant lifestyle.

"We notified the management company as it was very easy to see that there were dozens of men per week visiting a certain apartment.

"In addition my front door, the main door to the building, was being kicked in constantly," he said.

Bryan explained that he took a case to the PRTB in a third party capacity, but they ruled that his landlord has no obligation to protect him or his home.

Following their determination, his landlord put up his rent by €500 per month which was the equivalent of a 50pc increase.

He told Liveline host Joe Duffy that a simple Google search revealed the existence of the brothel in that apartment block.

When asked how he could pinpoint the activity to a particular apartment he said:

"Twelve men in a day - we don't need to be mathematicians to work it out."

He told Liveline that he was informed by Gardai that they were planning to raid the premises in question.

"They informed the relevant landlord and he was fully aware of what his tenants were doing as I had told him.

"I've witnessed things like seventeen half-naked leprechauns on Paddy's Day carrying crates of beer and taking their tops off," he said.

Bryan said that the peaceful enjoyment of a home is guaranteed by the law.

"I fear for my safety," he said.

Via Independent.ie

Noel Leahy

Gardaí are seeking the public’s assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 62 year old Noel Leahy who is missing since January 20 2016.

Noel is described as being 5’7 in height, of stocky build, shaved grey hair, grey beard, blue eyes and glasses.

Noel was last seen leaving his family home in Curraheen Close, Bishopstown, Co Cork and drove off in his Silver 08C Toyota Avensis.

He was wearing a grey jacket, grey peaked cap, blue jeans and a navy top.

Gardaí and Noel's family are concerned for his welfare.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Gardaí at Togher Garda Station on 021-4947120, The Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111 or any Garda Station.

David Gill

A Dublin GAA coach who was jailed for seven years for possessing cannabis was caught for a similar offence when his fingerprints were found during a Tipperary drugs bust, a court has heard.

David Gill (40), a father-of-three of The Pines, Leopardstown Road, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the €5,000 of cannabis herb in the State on July 26, 2013.

Gill accepted his fingerprints were on a bag containing €5,000 of cannabis herb seized when gardai raided properties in Tipperary, but said he had no link to the people involved.

Sergeant David Buckley confirmed that Gill had nothing to do with the targets of that garda operation.

Sgt Buckley told Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that the package found in Tipperary would have passed through Gill's hands while he was involved in transporting drugs in Dublin.

Gill has three previous convictions, including a seven year sentence for possessing almost €600,000 of cannabis in August 2013.

Sgt Buckley agreed with Edel Gilligan BL, defending, that her client was co-operative and frank with gardai when they interviewed him about the €5,000 of cannabis.

The sergeant accepted Gill had not owned the drugs he was transporting in Dublin in 2013. He further accepted that Gill told gardai he had been paid €500 for delivering those drugs and that he was “under pressure”.

Ms Gilligan submitted to Judge Melanie Greally that her client had worked as a courier until he lost his job in 2010, leaving him and his unemployed wife with a €300,000 mortgage debt.

Counsel said Gill had been heavily involved in GAA and had coached young children. She asked the judge not to extend Gill's period of incarceration as he has been an “exemplary prisoner” and would not come before the courts in future.

Judge Greally acknowledged that Gill has been making efforts to improve himself while in prison through various education courses and charity work.

“I can't think of a more positive response to the circumstances in which you find yourself”, she said. She imposed a two year sentence to run concurrently to the seven years he is serving.

David Byrne with his flash jeep

The first family of ‘bling’ – the Byrnes of Raleigh Square – are top of a list of targets in a looming war between the Kinahan drug mob and members of Ireland’s most feared crime family.

Senior Kinahan lieutenants, brothers Liam and David Byrne and their father James ‘Jaws’ Byrne, have been identified to members of the rival Hutch faction as prime targets to those hell-bent on avenging the murder of The Monk Gerry Hutch’s  nephew Gary. 

The Monk has been told Liam Byrne convinced Gary to return to Spain shortly before he was shot dead.

It is understood that the Hutch faction remains reluctant to sanction any shootings, but has been given the assurances of senior paramilitaries that he has their full backing if his side go to war with the Kinahan Cartel.

Sources believe that the Byrnes may become targets on both sides of the deadly divide, as key members of their own mob remain suspicious of a flash lifestyle that has brought the attention of the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Garda’s new Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau down on them and their associates.

While Gardaí have nabbed major seizures belonging to other key players in the mob, the Byrnes have not been victims of recent successes.

And as many of their criminal contemporaries try to remain under the radar, they have returned the country to the bad old days with their vulgar displays of wealth in their own community of Crumlin.

In an extraordinary two fingers to the Gardaí, the family even enjoyed a €100,000 holiday at a top resort in Cancun, Mexico, where they splashed their drug money on champagne and fine dining.

More than 20 members of the Byrne family kicked back and relaxed in the sun in one of the world’s most-luxurious holiday destinations.

Sources say that fellow guests at the Moon Palace five star resort were horrified by the “rough” manners of the Byrne men and complaints were made about the language of the women.

Veteran criminal ‘Jaws’ and his wife Sadie took a suite at the €5,000-per-person resort, where everything from designer cocktails at swim-up bars to childcare is included for the families of the world’s richest business people.

Their son Liam, a close friend of Christy Kinahan’s sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr, treated wife Simoan McEnroe and their three children to the break, while brother David went alone as he has just split from his girlfriend.

Sisters Melanie Johnson, Maria Byrne and Joanne Byrne were also on the family festive break.

Members of the Byrne family are among the Garda and Criminal Asset Bureau’s number-one targets in a massive probe into drug smuggling and money laundering through a number of industries, including the car importation business.

Liam and brother David have become key targets in the fight against organised crime as they have been so publicly flashing their wealth around Dublin.

Not for 20 years, since before the set-up of the CAB, have suspected drug dealers been so brazen about showing off their fortunes around their own neighbourhoods, where local children look on with awe at their top-of-the-range cars and trappings of wealth.

Liam Byrne

Last weekend the Sunday World revealed how ‘Cocaine Cowboy’ Liam Byrne has even built his own personal hacienda in Raleigh Square, where he lives with his family.

He has turned his semi-detached house into a huge property which dwarfs neighbouring homes and where he parks up his collection of cars including Range Rovers, BMWs, Audis and Mercedes jeeps.

His brother David is living in nearby Kildare Road where he too parks up top-of-the-range motors, many worth well in excess of €100,000.

Joanne Byrne and her husband Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh are regulars at the Cancun resort, which is among the world’s most-expensive holiday destinations, and are believed to have convinced the wider family to join them this year.

The couple live in a €1m Birmingham home where we photographed them last year living like neighbouring Premier League footballers.

Bomber, who was a first cousin of murdered dealer ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh, runs a car business, but has evidently got the Midas touch, as his stunning pile in Tamworth proves.

The family employ a full-time gardener and have a hot tub and private bar in the sprawling back garden.

Bomber was convicted of armed robbery in the early 1990s and was one of the first major targets of the Criminal Assets Bureau after it was set up in 1996.

In July of 1998 he and drug Godfather George ‘the Penguin’ Mitchell were named in court when the CAB got High Court judgements against them. Mitchell, who was at the time being held in a Dutch jail, was ordered to pay up €130,000 and in a separate judgement Kavanagh was told to pay a similar amount.

In court he said his home on Knocknarea Road in Drimnagh was his only asset and he eventually had to hand it over to CAB, leaving Ireland’s penniless for the U.K.

Joanne Byrne has led the way in showing her family how to enjoy life. She celebrated her 40th birthday in Vegas when she flew 25 women first class to Sin City.

Police believe that the man was not wearing a police uniform but identified himself as an officer

A man has been arrested following reports that somebody had been posing as a police officer and approaching schoolgirls.

The 28-year-old was arrested on Wednesday by police in Haringey, north London, on suspicion of attempting to take a child. He was taken into custody but has since been bailed.

On Monday, between 7.50am and 9am, four schoolgirls, aged between 11 and 14 were approached by a man across several locations in the Hornsey area.

A similar incident was also reported shortly before 8am today.

None of the girls were injured, and they and their families have all been spoken to by police. The relevant schools have also been contacted, and extra police patrols are reportedly being carried out in the area.

A sixth incident was also reported, involving a 10-year-old boy being approached shortly before 8am on Tuesday in the Crouch End area.

Police believe that the man was not wearing a police uniform but identified himself as an officer. He has been described as black, aged between 20 and 30 and of medium build, with short dark hair and was wearing a jacket with the hood up.

Haringey CID are continuing to appeal for any witnesses, or anyone with any information to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Trevers said: "Haringey does not see this type of offence very often and I want to reassure the community that such instances are incredibly rare.

"Notwithstanding the development of an arrest, I urge any witnesses to come forward so that my team can be sure to identify and prosecute the offender of these awful crimes.

"If you believe you or a loved one is a victim of such a crime, please contact us via 101 and be assured officers will treat you with care and sensitivity and we will do all we can to support you."

The Special Criminal Court heard today that the accused man's wife is a relative of former INLA chief-of-staff, Gino Gallagher, who was murdered in 1996

A Dublin man accused of IRA membership has been refused an application to drive his wife to a wreath-laying ceremony in Belfast for the former INLA chief-of-staff.

The Special Criminal Court heard today that the accused man's wife is a relative of former INLA chief-of-staff, Gino Gallagher, who was murdered in 1996. 

Brian Kenna (54) had applied to the court for a variation in bail in order to drive his wife to the commemoration in Belfast on January 30th. 

Mr Kenna, of Crumlin Park, Crumlin was arrested in Co Laois in November by members of the Special Detective Unit as part of an ongoing operation targeting dissident republican activity.

He was later charged at the Special Criminal Court with membership of an unlawful organisation within the State, namely Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA on November 21, 2015. 

At yesterday's/today's (Thurs) bail hearing, Detective Inspector William Hanrahan, of the Special Detective Unit, told the three-judge, non-jury court that gardai were contesting the application. 

He said that Mr Kenna was arrested outside Portlaoise prison with documents intended for people in Northern Ireland and that these documents were assessed to be intended for senior members of the IRA.  

The detective had "a serious concern" that people convicted or charged with a scheduled offence would be at the commemoration, the court heard.  

Mr Kenna also gave evidence at the bail application. He told the court that his wife has to walk with crutches and he wanted to drive her to Belfast but that he would not attend the commemoration. 

He refuted Detective Inspector Hanrahan's allegation that when he was arrested he had certain documents. 

Mr Kenna is a member of the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, which provides a liaison service between families of republican prisoners and the prisoners themselves, the court heard.  

Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, said that the court accepts Mr Kenna's presumption of innocence and that bail conditions are an infringement on his liberty. 

"But it's not as if his partner can't go without him," he said.  

He added, "In those circumstances, we have no hesitation to refuse."

By Daniel Hickey

Eddie Girvan

A woman has been charged with murdering a pensioner who was tied up in his own home and stabbed in the chest.

Retired plumber Eddie Girvan, 67, was discovered by chance on Monday night when two police officers making routine enquiries called at his house in Greenisland, Co Antrim.

The 29-year-old woman, who was arrested in Belfast shortly after the body was found, was charged with his murder on Thursday evening.

She is due to appear in court in Belfast on Friday.

Mr Girvan, a separated father of two, was an antiques enthusiast and had many valuable items in his semi-detached home on Station Road.

However police have said nothing of note was stolen from the property.

One of the victim's two cars - a silver Hyundai Sonata - was removed and was later recovered by police around 10 miles away on Verner Street in Belfast city centre.

Police said the vehicle was seen leaving Greenisland just before 7.30am on Monday being "driven dangerously". It is understood to have later been involved in a minor crash in Belfast city centre.

A father will appear in court over the death of his six-year-old son who suffered long-term head injuries as a baby.

Last year, Kevin Craig Toye, 28, of St Nicholas Road, Great Yarmouth, was charged with the manslaughter and ill-treatment of Baylee Varley.

The child suffered serious head injuries as a baby following an alleged attack in 2008 and has required medical treatment ever since.

The boy from Ormesby, Norfolk, died in March 2014. A pre-inquest review into his death heard that he died from bronchopneumonia due to long-term complications from a head injury.

Toye will appear at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Spencer for a plea and case management hearing from noon on Friday.

Sean Hulgrain

Gardai are investigating if the same mob who shot at a 24-year-old man in Tallaght this week were behind a gun attack on a close associate of his.

Sean Hulgrain is said to be making a good recovery after he was blasted a number of times in the Parkhill West estate of Kilnamanagh at 8.50pm on Monday.

Hulgrain was hit in the arm and back and was brought to Tallaght Hospital after being targeted by individuals in a silver VW Passat.

Sources said last night that gardai were investigating links between Monday's shooting and a gun attack on Hulgrain's associate Darren McGarry (28).

He was shot in the arm in the Kingswood estate on December 1.

Darren McGarry 

Both McGarry and Hulgrain were able to drive themselves to Tallaght Hospital after being shot.

"Gardai are investigating if both men were targeted as part of the same dispute in the Tallaght area," a source said.

"The two victims are associates, so this has to be looked at."

No arrests have been made in either case and both shooting victims are well known to gardai.

Hulgrain, who is originally from Clondalkin, received a suspended sentence last year after being found guilty of breaking the nose of an off-duty garda during the infamous Swedish House Mafia concert in 2012.

He has around 17 convictions.

McGarry's previous convictions include one from January, 2012, when he was convicted of dealing cocaine after he was caught with seven bags of the drug worth €375.

Also read Violent thug fed through hatch here.

McGarry swapped his motorbike for 50 bags of cocaine to share with his friends at the Oxegen music festival.

Herald

Prosecutors have asked the Court of Appeal to review a judge's ruling on evidence related to mobile phone masts which, they claim, will present ongoing difficulties in criminal trials.

The appeal with prejudice was taken following the directed acquittal of two persons for their alleged role in an historic crime.

Details of the persons and the alleged crime cannot be published as they are not presently charged with any offence.

The judge's ruling was made on the question of whether records from mobile phone masts could be relied upon to link individual phones to accused persons by placing them at relevant locations at relevant times.

Prosecuting counsel told the Court of Appeal yesterday that it had not been alleged that any of the accused were in a particular location but that they were in a general location.

Exactly where the calls were made had never been established, nor could it, he said.

If a call was routed through a particular cell site, the call wasn't made from the other side of the country, he said, but was made from within the cell site's coverage.

It was real evidence, he said, that those calls were made at that time and the conclusion to be drawn was a matter for the jury.

He said the judge extended the requirement necessary to adduce such evidence and had done so in error. If the error was not corrected by the Court of Appeal, he said, ongoing difficulties would persist and present themselves in criminal trials.

Responding to the prosecution, counsel for the defence at trial said there were two situations where the records could become unreliable and that was the problem.

The problem arose in relation to whether a mast was turned off and also whether the call was rerouted due to overloading.

The maintanence records of the cell sites were available for three years but appeared not to have been taken in time, counsel stated.

It wasn't a theoretical possibility, he said, but masts were turned off “not infrequently”.

Evidence in relation to the operation of the system at the time was required at a minimum, he said.

The judge referred to the fact that this seemed to be a reasonable expection on the basis of what the evidence was and how it was presented. All the prosecution had to do was look at the records, counsel said.

The defence were hampered, counsel said.

Secondly, if the call was rerouted due to overloading then the call is sent to a cell with a weaker signal and one you wouldn't expect it to be sent to.

There had been extensive expert evidence dealing with the operation of the system and “these two glitches in the system” had to be explained away to the satisfaction of the judge who was in a unique position to see the importance of it, he said.

The question was whether the evidence was reliable in those circumstances and it was a burden the trial judge appropriately placed on the prosecution, counsel said.

It was highly significant to know if the network was operating at the time, he said.

He said the judge was in a position to see the maps, the specifics of the evidence and the distortion of the records in the absence of information on rerouting and what stations were switched on.

Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Edwards, said the court would reserve judgment.

Kieran Conway

A Dublin solicitor is to be quizzed by gardai about the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974 in which 21 people were killed by Provisional IRA attacks.

Kieran Conway, who admitted in his recently published book “Southside Provisional” that he was an IRA member for more than twenty years, has agreed to be interviewed as part of a new investigation by British police into the worst IRA atrocity on British soil.

Mr Conway will be interviewed by members of the Special Detective Unit in Dublin next week following a request from Birmingham police under a mutual assistance programme between the gardai and British police forces.

The Dublin solicitor has voluntarily agreed to meet with the SDU to answer questions prepared by the Birmingham police.

They are understood to centre on claims in his book that he was told about the pub bombings by the then IRA Chief off Staff Daithi O’Conaill (Dave O’Connell).

Twenty one people died and 150 were injured when no-warning bombs exploded in two crowded Birmingham pubs in November 1974.

Six innocent Irishmen were arrested by British police and later convicted of the pub bombings but the men - known as “The Birmingham Six” - were later cleared of the crimes and released after spending fifteen years in jail.

The Provisional IRA were widely blamed for the attacks but the organisation never publicly admitted the bombings.

Mr Conway recounts in his book that he at first believed that the Provisional IRA had deliberately targeted civilians in the Birmingham attacks.

“I was appalled and personally ashamed of the bombing, which went against everything we claimed to stand for, and told Dave O’Connell and Kevin Mallon exactly what I thought when we met up,” he said in his book.

“In fact, both men were themselves furious, fully recognising not just the damage the bombing had caused to the IRA but its immorality as well.

“The then England OC (Officer Commanding) and adjutant had made it home and were debriefed by O’Connell and another member of the leadership at the home of a well known journalist in south Dublin, to which I had been brought as well for different reasons. 

“I met both men and, though I took no part in the actual debrief, I was later told by Dave (O’Connell) that the early indications were that the casualties were the result of yet another failure in the warning system, a succession of phone boxes from which the warning might have been relayed having proved to be inoperable.”

A “World in Action” Granada TV investigation in 1985 claimed to have tracked down one of the men responsible for the Birmingham bombs to an apartment in inner city Dublin, although the programme did not identify the man.

It is widely believed that a Provisional IRA unit in the English midlands carried out the attacks in revenge for the death of IRA member James Mc Daid who was killed in a premature bomb explosion in Coventry days before the Birmingham bombs.

Mr Conway said in his book that he joined the IRA in 1970 and left in 1993. He now has a solicitor’s practice in Dublin, specialising in criminal law.

National Library of Ireland

A NATIONAL Library of Ireland employee is to face trial on more than 200 counts of stealing rare antique books.

John Nulty (37) with an address at Portersgate Close, Clonsilla, Dublin was served with a book of evidence yesterday by a Garda detective from National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

He appeared at Dublin District Court having been initially charged in October.

The DPP had directed that he face trial on indictment. When the case resumed yesterday at the district court, Judge Cormac Dunne told the defendant that he was being returned for trial to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he will face his next hearing on February 12th.

The accused, who has not yet entered a plea, has been allowed free legal aid. Defence solicitor Michael Kelleher was granted an order that legal aid would also cover senior counsel representation for his client.

Mr Nulty faces 216 counts of stealing books from the National Library of Ireland in Dublin on various dates from 2004 until 2013. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges which are contrary to the Theft and Fraud Offences Act.

The books involved in the case include: “Some Poems of Roger Casement” published in 1918; Memoirs of Charles Macklin (1806) and Early Irish History and Mythology.

Mr Nulty, who was remanded on bail in his own bond of €300, must notify the prosecution within 14 days if he intends to use an alibi in his defence.

Anthony Locke in 1998

A Dublin man found guilty of impeding an investigation in to the murder of his neighbour was previously convicted of killing a man and his pregnant girlfriend by setting a fire in their flat, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.

Anthony Locke (38) of Ramilies Road in Ballyfermot, had pleaded not  guilty to the murder of Mr Christopher Jackson (53) at his apartment on Prussia Street, between September 6 and 7, 2012.

The jury of six women and six men took six hours and 47 minutes to come to a majority verdict of 10 to two that Locke was not guilty of murder but guilty of impeding the apprehension of a person who he knew or believed to be guilty of murder.

His brother Bernard Locke had pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Jackson and was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2014.

Bernard Locke

In 1998 Anthony Locke was jailed for ten years for starting a fire in a flat which caused the deaths of a man and his pregnant girlfriend.

He pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Gerard Kavanagh (30) and his girlfriend Mary Core (29) at Decies Road, Ballyfermot on February 18, 1995.

Today Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy told defence counsel Mr Padraig Dwyer SC that this case appeared "in principle to be an appropriate case for a partial suspension of a custodial sentence."

The judge told Mr Dwyer that his "concern" would be that the condition of Anthony Locke "be monitored" and "how that would be done."

Mr Dwyer suggested that the court put back the sentencing date to await a "probation report" which can take between four and six weeks.

"As a matter of principle it is a case where a judge ought to consider this course of action," said Mr Justice McCarthy.

The judge also asked Mr Dwyer to ensure his client was "not lulled into a false sense of security" and a date of April 18 was set by the court.

Today prosecution counsel Mr Conor Devally SC called Detective Garda Michael Donlon of the Bridewell Garda station to take the stand.

The court heard that "no person wished to record anything in relation" to the deceased Mr Christopher Jackson.

Det Gda Donlon agreed with Mr Devally that Anthony Locke had twenty previous convictions dating back to 1995 and these included criminal damage and larceny.

The court heard a "very serious event" happened in 1995 when a fire was started by Mr Locke in a flat which caused the deaths of two people.

"This resulted in a trial and sentence was imposed on Mr Locke in March 1998. There was two convictions for arson and two for manslaughter arising from the accused setting fire to a premises where two people died," said Mr Devally.

The court heard Mr Locke has already served the ten year prison sentence with the last three suspended.

Det Gda Donlon agreed with counsel that on Anthony Locke's release the next recorded conviction was in 2006  "under the Drugs Act."

Det Gda Donlan agreed with Mr Dwyer that the "primary physical activity" Anthony Locke engaged in was to place the body of Mr Jackson in the "wardrobe, clean up the flat and get rid of any materials that were covered in blood."

The court heard Mr Locke did not "exercise his right to be silent" in his interviews with the gardai and "provided an account" of what happened.

"He suggested to you that a mobile phone could be found at a certain location?" asked Mr Dwyer.

"Yes but that was never located," replied Det Gda Donlon.

Mr Dwyer asked the court to bear in mind the circumstances under which the offence was committed.

"Bernard Locke murdered an individual and requested Anthony Locke to clean up the premises and put the body away in a wardrobe at a time when Anthony Locke was morally weakened by the effects of alcohol over him," said counsel,

Mr Dwyer said the court would have heard evidence that Bernard Locke was "bullying, domineering and aggressive" towards his brother so there was an "air of intimidation in and around the premises at the time of the offence."

The court heard that Anthony Locke has since "disassociated" himself
from his brother.

"He comes before the court obviously as a troubled man, his upbringing was quite dysfunctional and both parents had difficulty with alcohol which created a fraught atmosphere in the home," said Mr Dwyer.

Counsel also told the court that a psychological report showed that Anthony Locke had self harmed and he was "negatively affected by an incident" as a child when he was assaulted by an older person.

The court heard Anthony Locke suffered a "serious bereavement" when his long term partner died in 2009.

"They had arranged to marry two week after the actual date of death which led to an escalation of drink and drug abuse," said Mr Dwyer.

Counsel said his client "did suffer remorse" in relation to starting the fire in 1995.

Counsel asked the court to bear in mind his clients "prospect of rehabilitation" as well as having a "willingness to engage with group therapy."

Kenneth O Brien

A feared west Dublin gangster is being probed over a possible link to the gruesome murder of Kenneth O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien’s dismembered body was discovered in a suitcase in the Grand Canal last weekend.

One of the many theories being investigated is whether the victim had a brief fling with a woman known to the criminal.

However, this is just one line of enquiry in what is being called an "extremely complex case which keeps on throwing up new information".

Gardai are also investigating whether sinister threats were made to a woman known to Mr O'Brien (33) and other people known to him in the weeks before he was murdered.

"New pieces of information are coming in all the time and over 50 new lines of enquiry have opened up in the last 24 hours," a source said.

Widespread searches are ongoing to try to identify the scene where the father-of-one was killed.

Dozens of gardai intensively searched farmhouses and land yesterday near where Mr O'Brien's body was found, but the scene of his murder has still not been identified.

Gardai denied reports that surfaced yesterday afternoon that a suspect had been arrested in the case.

They are appealing for anyone, "even courting couples", who may have been at the canal late on Friday night or early on Saturday morning when it is believed that Mr O'Brien's body was dumped.

Yesterday afternoon a number of Garda Water Unit divers searched lakes along the canal, while plain clothes units searched the building a few hundred metres away from where the victim was found.

Gardai will also launch a reconstruction of events at the Ardclough stretch of the canal this evening and tomorrow and intend to stop cars and walkers to find out if they had been in that area last weekend.

Gardai are also aware that other body parts could have been buried near the canal.

Detectives are understood to have searched a rented property and outhouses. One of the farm houses in question contains a vast amount of motorbikes and scrap metal.

Meanwhile, locals expressed their shock at the garda search.

One man said that it was "worrying" to think that the events that led to Mr O'Brien's death may have unfolded next to his property.

"It's truly awful, we're not being told much but hopefully it isn't the case that something as gruesome as this occurred here," the resident said.

"What happened to that poor man is absolutely shocking."

Yesterday gardai confirmed that they were investigating more than 200 lines of enquiry.

Herald

Paul Worthington

A father who was identified by a judge as sexually assaulting his 13-month-old daughter before her death, has fled the UK, his sister has said.

After a family court judge ruled that Paul Worthington, 47, did assault toddler Poppi before her sudden death, Tracy Worthington said that her brother has now left the country after being "hounded".

Speaking to The Guardian she said: "He has had to leave the country because of this. People keep knocking on my door asking where he is, but he is not here."

Ms Worthington has denied that her brother - who was arrested and questioned on suspicion of sexual assault but never charged with any offence, sexually abused Poppi, adding that the police investigation had been "an absolute joke".

The little girl was found with serious injuries at her home in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead in December 2012.

Mr Worthington denies any wrongdoing.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had previously decided there was "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".

However, the CPS has confirmed it is now "reviewing the case" of its decision not to pursue criminal charges following the High Court family judge's ruling.

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Peter Jackson issued his second fact-finding judgment on the circumstances of Poppi's death as part of care proceedings in relation to other children in the family.

The judge, who had concluded in 2014 that Mr Worthington had - on the balance of probabilities - abused his daughter shortly before her death, arrived at the same conclusion after hearing from a number of health experts last month.

Mr Justice Jackson had already found Cumbria Police conducted no "real" investigation for nine months into the death of the toddler.

Following this Cumbria Police made a self-referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in June 2014.

They later confirmed that three officers were subject to the IPCC probe with one officer suspended and two others moved into different roles.

On Thursday, the IPCC - which submitted its report to Cumbria Police in 2015 - said the serving officer with the outstanding disciplinary matters could be dismissed if gross incompetence was proved.

Ms Worthington told the BBC that her brother "wouldn't hurt his children".

"He is not even in this town, he has gone. He had to leave because of all the persecution over Facebook.

"He is devastated. He hasn't done 'owt and he is being accused of something as horrendous as this."

The HSE has issued a warning over the drug N-Bomb (25I-NBOMe) which it has warning is extremely potent and easy to overdose on.

Six people were hospitalised in Cork earlier this week after taking N-Bomb.

It is also believed to have resulted in the hospitalisation of six students from a Dublin college in 2014.

An 18-year-old man remains in hospital fighting for life after consuming the drug.

The HSE has warned members of the public that the ‘N-bomb’ drug can have very serious side effects – especially when snorted as it becomes extremely potent.

Experts have warned that just one line of the drug snorted could prove lethal.

It has been linked to several deaths internationally.

The EU issued a warning on the increasing use of the drug in 2014.

Side effects of the consumption of the drug routinely include paranoia, hallucinations, stomach problems and kidney problems.

The HSE warned that there is no quality control on drugs and that they are frequently contaminated with impurities.

“Young people are advised that there is no quality control on these drugs. There are problems with purity and contaminants, and there is no way of checking that what is purchased or consumed is the intended substance.

“Given the serious side-effects experienced by the young people in Cork, the HSE Addiction services are issuing a warning about possible contaminated ‘party pills’ and advise people not to consume any unknown substances that they are offered at this time”, it said.

Kay Sealy

An enraged wife who fired a shoe at a scantily-clad woman that was in her home has been convicted of assault.

Kay Sealy, 35, was found guilty of attacking Charlotte Akomfrah, 27, with the latter’s footwear at Sealy’s home in Tallaght, Dublin in August 2014.

Despite maintaining that she thought the person in her house was a burglar, Kay Sealy was convicted of assault.

Ms Sealy’s lawyer Michael Hennessy told Tallaght District Court that “no wife in Ireland would have acted differently.”

He added: “The villain of the piece was not before the court.”

Hennessy was referring to Ciaran Sealy, husband of Kay, who convinced Ms Akomfrah to return home with him after a work night out on the basis that he was “in an open relationship”.

The court heard that Ms Akomfrah and Ciaran Sealy were the last two left on a city centre night out when they began flirting.

Charlotte Akomfrah

“He asked me if I wanted to come back to his house. I asked if he was married or had a girlfriend. He said he was in an open relationship,” said Ms Akomfrah.

The graphic designer admitted they had been kissing, which continued when they arrived at the Sealy’s residence.

She continued: “When I was in the bathroom I saw a tug on the handle. I said I would be out in a minute. I didn’t think anything of it. When I came out I heard a woman screaming, calling me names, calling me a b***h. She started hitting me. I was so shocked.

“She kept on hitting me. She started hitting me with my shoes. I was crying out ‘please stop, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I really didn’t know’. I made it out onto the street. I saw my head was pumping blood. I rang an ambulance.”

She said she was taken to hospital and then rang her parents. She later reported the incident in Blackrock Garda Station.

Garda Nevan Hartley told the court that he had taken a report of the incident on 8 September, 2014, from Detective Colin Creedon in Blackrock station.

He said he later arranged for Ms Sealy to come to Tallaght Garda Station, where she was arrested and charged.

Ciaran Sealy

Ms Sealy said that she heard some noise from the sitting room and thought it was a burglar. She said she found her husband in his jeans and Ms Akomfrah in just her underwear.

She recounted her side of the story: “I asked her to get out. She refused. I must have asked her to leave ten times. She just wouldn’t leave. She turned around and said ‘I want my shoes.’”

Ms Sealy said she then pushed Ms Akomfrah out the door.

The prosecutor asked Ms Sealy to explain how Ms Akomfrah got a cut on the head. Ms Sealy replied: “I presume it was when I threw the shoes.”

Asking Judge John Coughlan to acquit his client, Mr Hennessy said Ms Sealy had initially thought the injured woman was a burglar.

He added: “The injured party had accepted that she had not a clear memory of the incident. No evidence of intent had been established.

“In terms of recklessness, once she discovered the truth no wife in Ireland would have acted differently.”

Judge Coughlan ruled that it was a serious assault and fined Ms Sealy €75.