A Tipperary man who preyed on his daughter for his own “sexual gratification” has been jailed for seven years.

The 47-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identify, raped and molested the child between 2004 and 2008 when she was aged between six and ten years old.

He pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape, one count of oral rape and six counts of sexual assault.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan described the abuse as “vile and terrible acts perpetrated against an innocent child”. 

“She was defenceless and vulnerable. Her father preyed on his own innocent daughter for his own sexual gratification,” she said. 

“He beached her trust and, as stated in her victim impact statement, ‘took away her innocence as a child’. The facts of this case are most distressing.”

The victim had previously said she did not want her father to go to prison and that although she knew that what her father did was wrong, part of her missed him every day.

In a victim impact statement, the girl said the last few years had been incredibly upsetting for her and her mother.

Garda Jennifer O’Brien told John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, that the man was in a relationship with his daughter’s mother which ended shortly after her birth. There was a casual arrangement for the girl to stay with her father occasionally and it was on these occasions that the abuse occurred.

The girl, who is now 16, told members of her family of the abuse in 2012. Her mother then contacted gardaí.

In an interview with a specially trained investigator the girl said her father raped her when she was nine years old and sexually assaulted her regularly over a four year period.

The man was arrested in January 2013 and admitted the abuse. His description of one incident of sexual assault corroborated his daughter’s account.

The girl’s mother said she felt she had failed her daughter and would never be able to understand how the man could hurt his own child. She said she was proud of her daughter for being brave.

Detective Garda John O’Gorman said that the accused became extremely emotional and began talking about how he had been physically and sexually abused himself.

He also has 15 previous convictions for drug possession, road traffic and public order offences.

It was read out in court that the man wished to say “how truly sorry he is to his daughter for the appalling offences and the hurt he has caused”.

He hoped “she could find it in herself to forgive him to some extent for what he has done” but has no expectation that this will happen.

When passing sentence today, Ms Justice Heneghan said she took into account the gravity of crimes involved, the child’s age, the exploitation of a defenceless child and the breach of trust.

She also took into account the abuser’s early guilty plea which she described as “considerable relief to the victim” as well as his experience of growing up in a “dysfunctional” background.

Ms Justice Heneghan said: “It is clear that there are many victims in this case. The complainant is a victim, the accused himself is a victim.”

She handed down a sentence of seven years on two counts of rape and five years on six counts of sexual assault to run concurrently. The sentence was backdated to 18 May 2015, when the man went into custody.

judge hammer.jpg

A Clare man who threatened to kill his partner's nine year old daughter if she told anyone of his sexual abuse has been jailed for 13 years.

The three-year period of severe abuse was only uncovered when the victim's younger brother, who was five years old, told their aunt. The court heard the girl is now “extremely traumatised.”

The twenty-five year old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one sample count each of anal rape and sexual assault of the girl between 2009 and 2012 in County Clare.

Describing the abuse as being in the highest category of gravity, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said the man “repeatedly and flagrantly” breached the trust placed in him by the victim's mother, and the life of his victim will be “permanently marred” by his crimes.

The abuse began when the man moved in with the victim's mother and lasted until the return of the victim's aunt from overseas. The parties in the case cannot be identified to protect the victim's anonymity.

Describing the abuse as “almost beyond belief”, Mr Justice Hunt said the man deserved credit for his guilty plea but had to receive a long sentence for the appalling experience he subjected the victim to.

He suspended five years of an 18 year sentence and added the man to the sex offender's register for life.

A local garda told Anthony Sammon SC, prosecuting, that the aunt asked the victim and her brother how the man was treating them. The five year old boy began to tell her about the abuse, upon which the girl became very upset and pleaded with the boy not to say anything.

The abuse was then reported to gardaí. In an interview carried out by a garda specialist the victim said the man would make her rub his penis and put his penis in her mouth.

She said he would put his finger “where I go to the toilet” and on one occasion caused her to bleed. She also said he performed oral sex on her and anally raped her nine or ten times.

She said the abuse took place in every room of the family home. The abuse happened when she was between six and nine years old.

In a report read to the court a psychotherapist said it was very sad to see how the abuse had affected the “extremely traumatised” girl, who is now 12 years old.

The report described her as quiet, withdrawn and nervous in therapy sessions and displaying symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

In a victim impact statement read to the court the girl described herself as feeling “scared, angry, dirty, sad, terrified, worried, nervous, never happy, shy and guilty”.

She said the man threatened to kill her if she told her family or friends. She said she couldn't sleep in the dark any more and “will probably never be happy again”.
Michael Bowman SC, defending, said the man wanted to make a deep and sincere apology, and that he “simply fails to offer any rational explanation for his wrongdoing”.

Counsel said the man, who has previous convictions for theft and cultivation of cannabis and opium, understood that a long term of imprisonment was inevitable and that “something deep-seated within him requires ongoing treatment.”

A Mayo man who raped and sexually assaulted his neighbour's son has been remanded in custody until October for sentencing.

John Gannon was convicted in January 1995 of indecently assaulting two young girls and served four years in prison. In 2010 this victim revealed that he was abused by Gannon between the ages of four and eight.

Gannon (71) of Aughagower, County Mayo pleaded not guilty to one count of indecent assault, seven counts of sexual assault, four counts of oral rape, one count of anal rape and one count of attempted anal rape at his home and locations near his home on dates between 1990 and 1994.

He was found guilty following a four-day trial at the Central Criminal Court.

The victim, who is now 28, and who waived his right to anonymity so Gannon could be identified, returned from abroad to give evidence. In a victim impact statement he said that he lost his childhood “in the cruelest way” when the abuse began.

The man told Bernard Condon SC, prosecuting, that one of his sisters has cerebral palsy and abuse often occurred when her parents brought her away for treatment, leaving the other children with the Gannon family.

Gannon would visit the bedroom where the children slept as they were falling asleep to touch the boy's penis and anus and masturbate himself.

On one occasion Gannon took the boy from the front garden, where he was playing on a JCB into the bathroom of his house where he anally raped him.

Gannon also abused the victim in a shed used by local children to shelter when waiting for a school bus. The victim testified that he was anally and orally raped there on multiple occasions. On one occasion he recalls a passing car preventing Gannon from carrying out an attack.

When asked on how many occasions the abuse took place in the shed, the man said “I can say right now it happened five times, six times but it probably happened hundreds of times. It was so long ago.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Garda Paul Lafferty, the man said he had a good childhood until he was four years old when the abuse began and he lost his innocence “in the cruelest way.”

He said that Gannon was his father's best friend, and he looked on him as a father figure until the abuse began. He said he remembered “a summer day when I was playing on a digger outside John Gannon's house” when Gannon took him to the bathroom and raped him.

“I cried out when he raped me. I always remember the pain, the fear and my backside being swollen afterwards,” he said. He remembered thinking that abuse must be normal and happen to everyone because it happened so often to him.

He said the abuse had caused him to have behavioural problems and that he had attempted to commit suicide. He said he had emigrated to Australia to get away from the area the abuse took place.

He thanked his family and the gardaí for their support. Mr Condon said the victim wished to waive his right to anonymity so Gannon can be identified.

Diarmaid McGuinness SC, defending, asked Mr Justice Tony Hunt when sentencing to consider the period of time elapsed since the crimes were committed and the fact that Gannon would have been released by now if a complaint had been made earlier.

Mr Justice Hunt remanded Gannon in custody until October 9 2015 for sentencing.

The investment will create 150 jobs by the end of this year in Limerick city

Car-sharing app Uber will open its first major customer services hub outside the US as part of a multi-million euro expansion into Ireland.

The investment will create 150 jobs by the end of this year in Limerick city, the company said.

Uber said the "centre of excellence" will be its first outside the US. The number of recruits will grow to 300 once it is fully up and running, the company said. .

Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the investment was a massive boost for Limerick and the country's IT sector.

"We are particularly delighted to welcome a world leading company, operating at the cutting-edge of innovative technology, to Limerick city centre," he said.

"Creating 300 jobs and with an investment of four million euro planned for the city, Uber will become a major part of the Limerick economy."

Uber has already started advertising for an initial 50 jobs to kick-start the operation by the end of August.

It has signed a 10 year lease on a site on Thomas Street in the city.

The operation will provide support for Uber users in countries outside the US.

Chilling: Some of the contents of the man's 'kill kit'

A man toting axes, a shovel and bleach when he was killed by a female escort he met online had been stopped, interviewed or investigated by police in at least 20 states and is being looked at for possible links to unsolved disappearances or slayings of women around the U.S., authorities said Monday.

West Virginia authorities are trying to circulate information to see if Neal Falls, of Springfield, Oregon, can be linked to any other crimes against women in the U.S. Police say Falls was fatally shot July 18 as he attacked and choked the escort in Charleston, West Virginia, and she grabbed his handgun off the ground and fired it.

Police found axes, knives, handcuffs, a shovel, bleach and other items in Falls’ car, raising suspicions this wasn’t the first time he had attacked a woman.

“The fact that he was 45 years old, and carrying tools like he was, and committing a crime that was so organized and so violent, it’s unlikely that this was his first violent crime,” Lt. Steve Cooper, Charleston police chief of detectives, said.

Cooper said Falls had a list of 10 other women in his pocket. Nine were in West Virginia; one was across the U.S. in San Diego. Similar to the Charleston woman, whom police are calling Heather, all were escorts active online, he said. They are all still alive, he said.

Heather had a separated shoulder, broken vertebrae, strangulation marks around her throat and other injuries, Cooper said.

So far, no history of major crimes in Falls’ record has surfaced. However, police said records do show that authorities in as many as 20 states — including Arizona, Kentucky and Virginia — had interactions with Falls such as stopping him, running his vehicle’s license plate or checking his federal Social Security number.

Charleston police have notified southern Nevada authorities, who said they are investigating Falls’ possible involvement in a series of killings long believed to be connected. Police have said Falls rented a room in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson when four prostitutes went missing in the area. In three cases, young women working as prostitutes went missing and were found dismembered on the side of a road.

Henderson police spokeswoman Michelle French said they are checking into any possible Falls connection to the 2005 disappearance of 21-year-old Lindsay Harris. She was the subject of a massive search, and her family from central New York helped comb the desert area where her rental car was last seen 30 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip.

The case appeared on an episode of the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.” Leg parts were identified as hers through DNA testing three years after they were found off Interstate 55 near Springfield, Illinois, more than 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) away.

Las Vegas police confirmed they’re investigating the death of 25-year-old Misty Saens, whose partial remains were wrapped in plastic and cloth and were found off a road near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in 2003.

North Las Vegas police said detectives are searching for 21-year-old Jessica Foster, who was reported missing from the Vegas suburb in 2006. A fourth woman was reported missing from Vegas in 2003, and her torso was found wrapped in plastic near the Nevada-California border.

Cooper said West Virginia police have also been communicating with authorities in the small southern Ohio city of Chillicothe, where four women died in suspicious circumstances and two others are missing. He said there has been no evidence yet placing Falls there, but it’s been considered because of the proximity to West Virginia — less than a two-hour drive away.

Cooper said police are still gathering information on Falls. It appears he was staying in his car, where he kept a pillow and sleeping bag, Cooper said.

“He had no cash, no credit cards,” Cooper said. “It’s a mystery how he had traveled across the country to us right now. There’s something that we haven’t discovered yet.”

- AP

Dean Furlong (45) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

A man who admitted handling stolen cash from two cash in transit robberies and having €430,000 worth of prescription tablets has received a suspended sentence of seven years.

Dean Furlong (45) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to handling €12,000 in stolen cash on April 12, 2012 and €30,000 in stolen cash at Landon Road., Ballyfermot, Dublin  on August 16, 2012.

Furlong of Beelin Mews, Tyrrellstown, Dublin also pleaded guilty to supplying a medicinal product without a prescription and having drugs for sale or supply in Tallaght on October 13, 2011.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring had previously adjourned sentencing a number of times to allow Furlong attend drug addiction treatment. The court heard he has completed this programme and has since enrolled in an addiction studies course at Dublin City University.

Judge Ring said that in light of the commitment he had shown to deal with his addiction she would suspend the sentence and she wished him good luck.

Furlong's 34 previous convictions are mostly for traffic offences but include a three year sentence for assault handed down in October 2006.

Detective Garda David Jennings told Michael Bowman BL, prosecuting that Furlong was stopped on the Tallaght bypass in November 2011 and became aggressive and agitated when asked for his name and address.

Twenty boxes of two types of prescription medication were discovered in the back of his van but Furlong refused to tell gardaí where they had come from.

Det Gda Jennings said the tablets were later analysed and found to be 178,000 Zopiclone tablets and 19,000 Dalmane tablets with an estimated value of €430,000.

He agreed with Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, that gardaí were satisfied that Furlong had been effectively operating as a courier in order to pay off a serious drug debt.

It was accepted that Furlong was in genuine fear of “other individuals” and that he had been doing well since his remand in custody.

Furlong was on bail and present in a Dublin house when gardaí raided it in April 2012 following a tip off. An orange bag held closed with an elastic band and containing €11,885 in cash covered in red dye was discovered.

The court heard that he took full responsibility for the cash which had been taken during a robbery of cash-in-transit van in Terenure the previous week. The raiders had fled the scene with €12,000 in a stolen Opel Zafira which had false registration plates fitted.

Detective Garda Jonathan O’Leary said a G4 security cash in transit van was robbed at Rathfarnham Shopping Centre on August 16, 2012 and €30,000 was taken. Furlong was not involved in the robbery.

The cash box was fitted with an exploding dye mechanism and GPS system and was later traced to an address in Ballyfermot.

Garda saw a car leaving that address at speed. Neighbours told gardaí they had seen a man, who is not Furlong, running along the back of houses and that a number of notes had fallen in his vicinity.

Dye stained notes and the cashbox were found nearby. An attempt had been made to open it with a saw and €7,000 was recovered.

Gardaí later saw Furlong and another man lying on the grass at Markievicz Park. Furlong's pants, footwear and hands were stained by dye and he was arrested.

Furlong’s mother died of cancer in 1984 which counsel said had “a destructive effect on him and his family” and his father had a “problem” keeping the family together.

Sonya McLean and Declan Brennan

Rescue efforts in the Med have saved thousands of people from possible death

Fourteen bodies have been discovered on an overcrowded migrant barge in the Mediterranean.

The Irish Navy said the remains were lifted along with 210 surviving refugees from the wooden vessel around 80km (50 miles) off the Libyan coast.

There were 35 children among the rescued.

They are getting food, water and medical attention as part of an international migrant rescue mission.

The LE Niamh naval ship was sent to the scene, north west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, yesterday around 4:30pm, along with a Medecins Sans Frontieres vessel.

An Irish Defence Forces spokesman said: "During searches of the barge the crew of the LE Niamh recovered 14 bodies from below the deck of the barge."

It is thought the doomed barge left Tripoli in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The remains were late last night taken aboard the naval ship, before it set off towards the port of Messina in Sicily.

The LE Niamh has so far rescued 1,280 migrants as part of the international humanitarian mission.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said it is outraged about the discovery of the bodies.

Paula Farias, coordinator on the organisation's Dignity I vessel which assisted in the operation, said migrants with no other options should be helped to flee their countries.

"It is heartbreaking to see human lives lost at sea," she said.

"We not only need a large scale search and rescue operation to stop this humanitarian crisis but also need for safe and legal channels to be created so that people fleeing their countries can find protection in Europe.

"What we see each and every day on the Mediterranean is that many people are left with no option but to risk their lives at sea."

Ms Farias said those rescued included migrants fleeing Morocco, Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, Eritrea and Bangladesh.

Mystery: The man was discovered on the side of the M7 motorway

A stowaway discovered on the side of the motorway near Naas has no identification, documentation or English.

O'Neill was 'foaming at the mouth' when arrested at Mullen's home

SENTENCING of a Dublin man who was found guilty of trespassing at the home of U2 drummer Larry Mullen has been adjourned for three months.

Dublin District Court has heard that Gerard O'Neill, 31, was armed with a golf club and threatened gardai he would infect them with HIV.

A decision is awaited on whether a suspended sentence O'Neill already had would be activated as a result of this incident. Today, Judge Ann Ryan further adjourned the case until a date in October.

O'Neill, of Orchid House, James Street, Dublin 8, was “foaming at the mouth” when he resisted arrest and threatened the officers who responded to a 6am report of intruders on the grounds of the drummer's home.

He had been found guilty earlier of trespassing at Claremont Lodge, Claremont Road, Howth, north Co. Dublin in a manner causing fear in another person, on October 19 last.

The 31-year-old was also found guilty on other charges in connection with the incident: resisting arrest and production of a golf club as a weapon capable of causing injury. And he was also guilty of failing to appear in court on three occasions, the court held.

Judge Ann Ryan heard he had 55 prior criminal convictions and he has been remanded him in custody. She has also deferred ruling on the remaining charge of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Garda Stephen Donnelly and Garda Aishling O'Neill who caught him at Larry Mullen's property.

During the trial earlier, security guard, Dan Suchan, has told the judge the entrance to Claremont Lodge has a sign warning “trespassers will be prosecuted” and saying “private”. He was in the security hut and heard a beep from a motion sensor and looked at his CCTV monitor to see a man in bushes and a woman was also present.

He went out and tried to speak to the them but after getting no response he called gardai. He said it was dark and he had concerns property would be damaged, a fire started or somebody would be “jumped”.

Gda Stephen Donnelly said he arrived with Gda Aishling O'Neill and they walked from the security hut to the main road to look for the intruders.

They noticed bags on the road and thought they belonged O'Neill whom they had encountered earlier in Howth village.

He said O'Neill came out of bushes and “he had a golf club which he held aloft” He feared O'Neill would use it as a weapon against him and his colleague and yelled at him several times to drop the club.

“I had to draw my official baton,” he had said. Gda Donnelly said that eventually O'Neill put it down.

The gardai then noticed O'Neill's partner emerging and she was arrested.

At this point O'Neill became aggressive and “threatened to kill gardai”. Gda Donnelly said O'Neill shouted shouted, “I've HIV and threatened to spit at us and bite us to infect us”.

Gda Aishling O'Neill said he was “foaming at the mouth” from “sheer anger” and she did not believe he was under the influence of any intoxicant at the time.

The gardai told the court there was a struggle and they restrained him against a wall. They had to keep his face away from them because he continued to say he would infect them by biting them. Gda Aishling O'Neill also said she was in fear when he had the golf club held high and when he “looked at me straight in the eye”.

Two more officers arrived to help in the arrest and he was taken to Clontarf station in a garda van, the court has heard.

Make-A-Wish Foundation ambassador Padraig Harrington took time out from the golf course to join Ros Bannon (7), Daragh Gorman (5) and Fen Flannelly (5) in an authentic Delorean at the launch of Cannonball 2015.

This year’s Cannonball, in aid of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, takes place from 11th to 13th of September.

CANNONBALL, sponsored by Manhattan Popcorn, is the largest organised road trip in Europe and the most exciting motoring and social event of the year with most of the world’s top mark cars such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Masseratti, Rolls Royce and Bentley. 

New in 2015 are the Pagani Zonda, Keonigsegg and Carrera GT. 

These are 3 of the most unique cars in the world and are being shipped in to Ireland for the event with a combined value of €5 million. 

This year the start line for CANNONBALL will be at the Point Village, Dublin on Friday September 11th. 

The gleaming convoy will drive through 900KM of Irish open roads through Dublin, Sligo, The wild Atlantic way, Killaloe, Killarney and the ring of Kerry, Cahir and finishing in Wexford. 

The spectacular convoy will be more impressive than ever with free family Festivals all over the country and over 150,000 spectators are expected to line the streets all over Ireland.

Each start and finish line at each host town is infused with an electric atmosphere featuring Brazilian dancers, live music, DJs, The Monster Energy JAM Truck, local entertainers and dignitaries, confetti cannons, lots of Manhattan popcorn, Cannonball official merchandice and, of course, the unmistakable roar of 160 supercars. 

CANNONBALL 6 will raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation which is a children's charity that grants magical wishes to children between the ages of 3 - 17 years with life-threatening medical conditions.

CANNONBALL is the brainchild of Kildare Businessman and AB Signs proprietor, Alan Bannon and is now in its sixth year having already raised over €600,000 for Children’s charities.  

Cannonball celebrities including  Soap stars Ryan Thomas from Coronation St and Adam Thomas from Emmerdale, former Miss World Rosanna Davison and husband Wes Quirke, celebrity chef Rachel Allen, Models Georgia Salpa, Aisling Quinn, Hazel O Sullivan, Emma Quinlan and Holly Carpenter have been keen Cannonballers over the years as well as Roz Purcell, Nadia Forde, and  Ryan Tubridy, Mick Galway, Gerald Kean and Lisa Murphy also geared up for Cannonball and it never disappoints in the celeb stakes.

Bruno Mars even showed up one year to join Boyzone’s Shane Lynch for a quick pit stop in Cork! 

Central Criminal Court

A man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl having met her for the first time that day on a bus has been remanded in custody pending sentence next November.

Michael Doyle was 22 years old when he met the now 17-year-old girl and her friend.

He and his friend bought the girls alcohol on their request and the four later went to a local park.

They continued to drink beer and whiskey and the girl had sexual contact with the other man.

The group then got a taxi to Doyle's father's home where he had sex with the girl after she woke up having fallen asleep on a bed.

Doyle (24), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to defilement of a child under 15 years old at his then Dublin home on July 23, 2012.

His 31 previous convictions including violence in a garda station, criminal damage, arson and handling stolen property.

Judge Patricia Ryan remanded Doyle in continuing custody until November 26 next, pending a report from the Probation Service.

Detective Garda Deirdre Quinn told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that while the girl's friend told Doyle and the other man that she herself was 17 years old, the victim told them she was 14.

She said when the group arrived at the house, the girl's friend was concerned for her and told her not to go into the house. She herself waited in the taxi and continued to scream at the victim to stay with her.

In the meantime the girl's parents were phoning both teenagers and the victim's father spoke to the taxi driver. The driver later told gardaí that the girl went voluntarily into the house with both men and he dropped the second girl to her mother's home.

Det Gda Quinn said the girl fell asleep after Doyle directed her to a bedroom in the house. She woke up to find him in the room, they had sex and she fell back to sleep.

The girl's father later arrived at Doyle's house but she hid because she was afraid she would be in trouble for drinking. Doyle brought her to the front door and told her father that she had been playing with his younger sister.

Det Gda Quinn said the girl couldn't remember initially what had happened but she recalled having sex with Doyle the next day and told her mother. They reported it to gardaí and Doyle was arrested the following March.

He told gardaí he had sex with the girl but said he didn't realise she was so young and repeated this a number of times throughout the interview. He claimed she had asked him for sex.

Det Gda Quinn confirmed that Doyle was in custody pending sentence after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to show up at a previous sentence hearing.

A victim impact report stated that the girl saw a counsellor for six months but she felt it didn't really help. She feels paranoid, her school-work was affected and she has flashbacks. She has found it difficult to cope with comments from peers and she has become more self conscious, experiencing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Det Gda Quinn accepted a suggestion from Caroline Biggs SC, defending, that there was no question of pre-meditation or pre-planning in the offence and her client has no history of sexual offending.

She agreed with counsel that although her client accepts that he bought alcohol for the girls, he did so at their request.

Det Gda Quinn further agreed with Ms Biggs that Doyle told gardaí in interview that he regretted having sex with the girl.

Ms Biggs told Judge Ryan that her client was four years old when he discovered his mother dead in their home. She and his father both had addiction problems.

Ms Biggs said Doyle had both an addiction to cannabis and prescribed medication at the time and submitted that he had been drinking very heavily that day.

Liam Dowling

A Dublin man who claimed he couldn't afford vet bills for his sick dog will avoid a jail term for violently killing the animal in a park full of children.

One witness saw Liam Dowling (44) swing the Jack Russell dog overhead by its lead and smash it to the ground up to 30 times as he crossed a park area by Clonliffe College.

Garda Shane Mengessidis said that Dowling was also seen putting his foot on the dog's head while it was on the ground and pulling the lead tight.

Dowling of Fitzgibbon Court, Fitzgibbon Street, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to killing a protected animal at Clonliffe College on August 19, 2014.

He has 12 previous convictions, including a four and a half year sentence for a drugs offence.

Judge Martin Nolan commented that “by any standard what happened to this poor dog was incredibly cruel”, but noted that Dowling had been on prescription drugs at the time.

He further noted that Dowling cares for a child and is a “contributing member of society.”

The judge said he intends to impose 200 hours of community service in lieu of a two year sentence if Dowling is suitable.

He said he would not impose a ban on Dowling keeping animals, as he didn't want to deprive the man's child of having a dog.

Gda Mengessidis told Cormac Quinn BL, prosecuting, that Dowling walked across the park and every so often swung the dead animal over his head, until he entered some bushes.

Witnesses, including children, subsequently saw Dowling re-emerge with only the dog's lead.

Dowling told gardaí at the scene that the dog had run off when he had taken it off its lead, but later admitted killing the pet.

Gda Mengessidis said a vet with the Dublin Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) found the dog had died from repeated blunt force trauma to its body.

Dowling claimed the dog, a family pet of nine years, had been sick for up to five months and he didn't have the money to pay for vet bills.

He said he had tried to suffocate the pet in fields and denied knowing about an euthanasia procedure provided by the Irish Blue Cross.

“Sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing,” Dowling said in interview.

Gda Mengessidis agreed with Luigi Rea BL, defending, that Dowling said his child had been fond of the dog.

He further agreed Dowling had a drug problem and was on antidepressants at the time.

Mr Rea submitted to Judge Nolan that it was Dowling's initial intention to smother the dog, but the antidepressants led to his “distorted behaviour.”

He asked the judge to take into consideration his client's early guilty plea, his co-operation and that he has no history of cruelty to animals.

Judge Nolan adjourned the matter until October pending a community service report.

Landscape with Cottage by Paul Henry

The Fern in the Area , by Jack B.Yeats

Gardaí investigating a burglary in Donard Co Wicklow in September 2014 have today recovered all the paintings stolen in the course of the burglary.

These include:

Portrait of a Lady, by Sir John Lavery, Landscape with Cottage by Paul Henry and The Fern in the Area , by Jack B.Yeats

The paintings have been taken to Garda Headquarters for examination.

No arrests have been made and investigations are continuing.

A shop security guard who tied up his boss and robbed the day’s takings on a whim has avoided a jail sentence.

Paul Ryan (50) who has no previous criminal record and worked as a security guard for eight years, told gardai he was stressed out from family life and was drinking around the time of the crime.

After taking €22,145 from the safes of Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street in Dublin city centre, he took the day manager, Ciara Flanagan, to the shop’s cloak room where he bound her hands and legs up with tape.

Ryan, formerly of North Strand Road, Dublin then left the capital for a month, sleeping rough and spending the stolen cash on drink and betting, the court heard.

Garda Sergeant Paul Burke said that Ryan went to race meets in Limerick and in Mallow, Co Cork. After all the cash was spent he returned to the capital and handed himself into gardai.

Today Ryan pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery on March 23, 2014. A charge of false imprisonment was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Judge Catherine Murphy backdated a four year prison sentence to April 24 2014, when Ryan handed himself into gardai and went into custody.

She suspended the balance of the sentence on condition that he keep the peace and address his gambling and alcohol addictions with the Probation Services.

Sgt Burke told Kerida Naidoo BL, prosecuting, that Ms Flanagan had worked for the book store for two decades and knew Mr Ryan since he began doing the security there a year before the robbery.

Ryan had been working “as normal" on the afternoon of the offence and about half an hour before the shop closed at 6pm he “took a notion” to take the money, the court heard.

Sgt Burke said that part of Ryan’s duty was to protect Ms Flanagan while she was closing tills and moving the cash into the shop’s safes upstairs. After he had locked up the front of the shop and she had made sure there was no one left on any of the shop’s floors, he went with her to the cash office.

After she opened up the cash safe and had began moving the cash into it, Ryan said to her in a quiet voice: “Come Ciara, come over here and sit down.”

He repeated the request and she didn’t understand but she sat down. He told her quietly that he wasn’t going to hurt her but she told gardaí later that she was frightened.

She noticed he had a brown roll of tape and she realised she was going to be taped up. After bagging the day’s takings and the week’s float from the safe he told her to come downstairs.

He told her to sit down on the floor of the cloak room and he taped her hands and legs. He asked was it tight and she said it was. He then told her to wait half an hour before doing anything and he left.

The victim told gardai that she was in shock and it felt surreal. She waited five minutes before freeing herself and raising the alarm.

After handing himself in a month later Ryan admitted everything. He said that apart from a €500 loan he didn’t owe any debts. He said he bound Ms Flanagan to stop her raising the alarm and he accepted that she must have been afraid.

The woman is still working but is more nervous in her work, the court heard. A victim impact report handed into the judge was not read out. Judge Murphy said it was a very serious offence which had a “very very serious effect” on the woman.

Sandra Frayne BL, defending, had previously asked for her client to be assessed for a gambling addiction.

A report from the prison governor said that Ryan has been a model prisoner while in custody.

Gardai are investigating a fatal road traffic collision which occurred at Ballyloughan, Arklow Road Gorey Co Wexford, this afternoon.

The incident occurred at at approximately 3:20pm today.

An elderly female driver was fatally injured when her car collided with a truck.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The stretch of road is currently closed to facilitate an examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and local diversions are in place.

Gardai wish to appeal for witnesses to contact Gorey Garda Station on 053-9430690, The Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

A Dublin father-of-one stole a priest's car and fitted it with fake registration plates made to match tax and insurance discs he took from an identical vehicle, a court has heard.

Kevin O'Keeffe (30) had been on bail for false imprisonment when he spotted the door of the curate's home open while it was being repainted, walked in and stole keys to a Toyota Avensis.

A few weeks later he smashed the window of an identical vehicle and stole a Sat Nav and tax, insurance and NCT discs from the vehicle.

O'Keeffe, of North Circular Road, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to theft of car keys and unlawful possession of a vehicle at St Laurence O'Toole Church, Seagrange Road, Baldoyle on July 23, 2013.

He further pleaded guilty to criminal damage and stealing property at Central Park, Leopardstown Road, Baldoyle on August 2, 2013.

O'Keeffe has 86 previous convictions and committed these offences while on bail for a false imprisonment crime. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a 18 month sentence which will begin when the five year sentence he is serving for the false imprisonment expires.

Garda Rory O'Mara told Anne-Marie Lawlor BL, prosecuting, that he and colleagues located the curate's car with plates made up to match the other stolen discs in Clondalkin on August 22, 2013.

He said the curate had been reading in his office when he heard “quiet footsteps” in the hallway and saw O'Keeffe's face at the door.

O'Keeffe asked him: “What needs to be painted in here?”. He left the room and a while later the priest realised his car keys had been taken.

Gda O'Mara said fingerprint analysis on the car after it was found matched those of O'Keeffe.

He was arrested and interviewed in custody while serving his other sentence and he made full admissions.

O'Keeffe revealed he had driven the car with the false plates and stolen discs for a time before it went missing from where he had parked it in Clondalkin. Gda O'Mara agreed with Sandra Frayne BL, defending, that her client was fully co-operative.

Ms Frayne submitted to Judge Martin Nolan that O'Keeffe was remorseful and making efforts to get off drugs.

Judge Nolan said he was happy that O'Keeffe was taking steps to reform himself while in custody but added that he had to impose a custodial sentence because of the criminal record.

Central Criminal Courts

A former fireman with an “unblemished” 30 years serving with Dublin Fire Brigade will be sentenced later for having a sexual relationship with a child.

Ron Tulie (57) met his victim while teaching a first aid and fire safety course in 2008, when she was 16-years-old.

Garda Declan Sherlock revealed that the teenager, who had felt in love with Tulie, suffered severe long-term psychological effects from the incidents.

Tulie, a father-of-four of Pinevalley Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin pleaded guilty to four counts of having sexual intercourse with a child under 17 years at the Dublin Mountains between June 1 and July 27, 2008. He has no previous convictions.

Gda Sherlock told Roisin Lacey BL, prosecuting, that the girl's school principal heard rumours about the relationship after it had ended and alerted the HSE.

Gardaí got involved and met with the victim, who revealed Tulie had given her and her two friends his email and Bebo addresses when the course ended. He told the teenagers “to keep in contact girls.”

The court heard the victim contacted Tulie within a week and started a friendly relationship with him through emails.

Tulie met with the girl and her friends a number of times between February and June 2008 and drove them to parks and other scenic areas.

Gda Sherlock said the relationship between Tulie and the girl had developed by June and on one occasion, he took her alone to the Dublin Mountains.

The then teenager recalled that Tulie had still been in his fireman's uniform when he pulled his car into a viewing area and had sex with her for a few seconds in the back seat.

She told gardaí she had been a virgin at the time and stopped the intercourse because of the pain.

The young woman said she met Tulie for consensual sex about five times between June and July. Gda Sherlock told Ms Lacey that Tulie had not worn a condom on any occasion.

The victim told gardaí she felt she had been in love with Tulie but realised she was being used for sex when the relationship ended in early 2009.

Gda Sherlock said the girl became ill and her education suffered.

The garda said the ex-fireman told him he intended to plead guilty to the charges when he was arrested in 2012.

Gda Sherlock agreed with Mary Rose Gearty SC, defending, that her client left the fire brigade voluntarily because of the case.

Ms Gearty submitted to Judge Desmond Hogan that her client, who has been married for 30 years, is deemed at low risk of re-offending according to psychologists.

Counsel said Tulie was very remorseful and understands what he has done to the victim and his own family.

Ms Gearty submitted that Tulie would suffer from being named in the media and that he has already been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

“He had a long, unblemished history with the fire institution and he has destroyed all that himself,” Ms Gearty added.

Judge Hogan said he would have to consider the Victim Impact Statement and Tulie's psychological reports before imposing sentence. He remanded Tulie in custody pending sentence in October

Patrick O'Brien

A FORMER lay worker with the Church of Ireland has been sent forward for trial accused of sexual abuse of 10 boys between 1977 and 1990.

Patrick O'Brien (76) is facing 75 counts of indecent assault at numerous locations throughout the State including St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.

He was served with a book when he appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Dublin District Court today.

The DPP had directed trial on indictment.

No plea was entered and Judge Mitchell ordered the return for trial to the next term of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The defendant, who remains on bail, will face his next hearing on October 9th next.

He must notify the prosecution if he intends to use an alibi in his defence.

Mr O'Brien, with an address at Knocklyon Road, Templeogue, in Dublin, was arrested in May at Terenure Garda station by detectives attached to the Child Protection and Human Exploitation Bureau.

During his first hearing, Det Garda Anthony Maloney had told the district court on May 25th that Mr O'Brien replied “no comment” when the charges were put to him.

There was no objection to bail but conditions were imposed stating Mr O'Brien must reside at his current address, surrender his passport and not apply for duplicate travel documents, and that he would sign-on once a week at his local garda station.

The accused was also told he must have no contact with the complainants. At his first hearing, the district court ordered that nothing must be published that would identify any of the alleged victims. It was noted then that there was no evidence that publishing the defendant's name would link him to the complainants.

One person has been injured after a gunman opened fire in a street in downtown Barcelona, Spanish police said.

A regional police official said two people were standing outside a hotel when the shooter arrived and opened fire on them, wounding one. The pair fled and were later found by police. The official said the second person had also been injured when he fell on glass.

The gunman fled the scene and is being sought by police.

The official said the two people had not been staying at the hotel and that police are as yet unable to say what the motive for the shooting was.

The incident occurred where the city's tourist-popular boulevard, Las Ramblas, intersects with Pintor Fortuny street. There were no details on the nationalities of the people involved.

The Army Bomb Disposal team was called to a secondary school today after a substance kept secure in the school's science lab became "unstable".

The Defence Forces sent the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to the school in Ennis following a request from gardai.

The EOD arrived on the scene at 12.15pm and moved the chemical - known as 'Brady's Re-Agent' - to a nearby green field site.

The substance was made safe through a controlled explosion. The scene was declared safe at 12.37pm.

According to the Defence Forces, 'Brady's Re-Agent' is a substance routinely used in laboratories around the country that becomes hazardous over time.

The same team were then requested in Limerick at 5.49pm.

They were dispatched to a building site in Roxboro in Limerick where two historical munitions were found by workers.

Upon examination, the items were found to be artillery ammunition from the 18th or 19th centuries. The scene was declared safe at 6.15pm.