Doug Richard denies the charges

A former Dragons' Den star has been charged with child sex offences.

Doug Richard, who acted as an adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, is accused of three counts of sexual activity with a child and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences took place in January and relate to one victim, a girl who was aged 13, at the time, it is alleged.

Richard, 57, denied the allegations in a short statement issued after the charges were confirmed.

The US-born businessman said: "I absolutely deny the charges against me and will contest this matter in court."

Caroline Hughes, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by City of London Police in relation to Douglas Richard, 57, who was arrested on 5 January this year.

"Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Douglas Richard to be charged with three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

"The alleged offences occurred on 2 January 2015 and relate to one victim aged 13 at the time.

"The decision to prosecute has been taken in accordance with the code for crown prosecutors."

Richard, of Islington, north London, will appear at City of London Magistrates' Court on October 5.

The millionaire, who appeared on BBC's Dragons' Den in the first two series, reportedly travelled with David Cameron on an official government trip to Africa and advised on policy.

Stephen Clinch,

LOVE/HATE star Stephen Clinch has been served with a book of evidence and sent forward for trial over a €50,000 armed robbery at a hotel in Dublin city-centre.

Actor Stephen Clinch, 49, who played recurring character “Noely” in the hit RTE series, and a second man had been initially held in custody on remand in May following an alleged raid but has been granted bail pending his trial.

Mr Clinch, with an address at Millbrook Grove, Kilbarrack, Dublin and his co-defendant are charged with robbery of €50,730 and possessing a firearm at the Gate Hotel on Parnell Street on the morning of May 11th.

Dublin District Court had heard that a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol was allegedly put to the head of a security worker collecting cash and that it was claimed Mr Clinch later pointed the gun at another employee who gave chase.

The court has heard that ten hotel workers pursued and disarmed Mr Clinch before restraining him and an alleged accomplice until gardai arrived.

He had been initially refused bail and had been held in custody on remand however he has since had bail granted by the High Court. He appeared again before Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court today and was served with a book of evidence. Judge Halpin then made an order sending him forward for trial to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he will face his next hearing on October 16th.

The actor, who was not yet entered a plea, remains on bail with conditions that he must carry a mobile phone, obey a 12pm to 7am curfew, sign-on daily at his local garda station and not associate with a co-accused except for legal  consultations.

Mr Clinch's case had been adjourned to today for the independent surety, the person who has stood bail for him, to be present when he was being returned for trial to the circuit court.

In his role in Love/Hate, Clinch was infamously involved in a savage prison attack using a pool cue to attack Fran in the series finale. He also appeared in Darndale: The Edge of Town, a TV3 documentary series about life in the north Dublin suburb.

At an earlier stage in the proceedings, Dublin District Court was told told Clinch had recently been offered a lead role in a film about clerical abuse which has been commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

The court was also told and there was another lead part lined up for him for him in a production which will also star singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey and mixed martial fighter Conor McGregor.

A second man has also been charged in connection with the alleged robbery and is currently before the courts.

THE first prosecutions have commenced against drivers accused of not bringing their licences to court to have penalty points recorded.

The 21 motorists, mostly men, were summonsed to appear in Dublin District Court today where Judge Marie Keane asked the prosecution to clarify legal issues and she adjourned the cases.

The alleged offence is under Section 22 of the Road Traffic Act, 2002 and states the motorists failed to appear in court to produce their driving licences or learner permits after they committed motoring offences including speeding and holding a mobile phone while driving.

Sergeant Brendan Heneghan of the Garda Traffic Department said the court prosecutions had been brought following requests by the Ministers for Justice and Transport. The 2002 Act had been updated in 2010, he also told the court.

Gda Sgt Heneghan said  “clarity” was needed in the matter and he asked for an adjournments of all the cases.

One  accused man, who was self employed explained that he had taken the day off work. He told Judge Keane that he was “late paying by a day” and was due to have four penalty points put on his licence. He claimed he had not contested it and he went to the office that issued the notice, and the points were put on his licence.

“I’m kind of perplexed as to why I’m here in the first place,” he said.

Judge Keane told another man that it was “probably very technical” but the State had to be able to prove its case. “There's a legal point that has to be clarified and I cannot deal with it today,” she told the defendant, adding, “I believe it would be unsafe to do so.”

“The garda in question is not here and I had to travel all the way from Balbriggan,” said another man when his case was called. A British man was among the defendants and told the court he had a UK licence and it was the third time he had been in court. His case was also adjourned until a later date.

Birmingham Children's Hospital

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the suspicious death of an 18-month-old girl.

The toddler was pronounced dead on Saturday, shortly after being taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital from an address in the Weoley Castle area of the city.

A police spokesman said two men and a woman had been detained after the death, including a 35-year-old woman who was arrested at the hospital.

Officers were called to a property in Beckbury Road, Weoley Castle, at about 10am on Saturday by the ambulance service after reports that the child was in cardiac arrest.

West Midlands Police said a post-mortem examination had proved inconclusive and further tests are due be carried out.

The 35-year-old woman, who is from Weoley Castle, remains in custody after detectives obtained a warrant of further detention.

Meanwhile, a 37-year-old man from Stourport in Worcestershire, arrested on Sunday morning, also remains in custody.

A man aged 34, from the Oldbury area of the West Midlands, arrested at the hospital on Saturday, has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

The IRA was the most ruthless killing machine in the western world, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been told.

Members debated the killing of Kevin McGuigan in Belfast by members of the Provisional IRA last month.

However senior Sinn Fein member Gerry Kelly said it was a pseudo-crisis manufactured by political unionism and that the IRA left the stage in 2005 and was not coming back.

"Whosoever was involved in those killings, whatever connection they may claim to Irish republicanism, they are criminals who have been involved in murder."

Democratic Unionist peer Lord Maurice Morrow said the organisation had been responsible for four killings since the ceasefires which were supposed to have ended the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.

"No one needs any reminding of the ruthlessness of the Provisional IRA, the most ruthless killing machine in the whole of the western world."

He said now was a "watershed" moment for Northern Ireland.

He was debating a motion on the killings of Mr McGuigan and Jock Davison in the Stormont Assembly.

"This is not the first murder, this is four of recent times excluding those that have gone before that."

Others he connected to the IRA included the killings of Robert McCartney in 2005 and Paul Quinn in 2007.

Ulster Unionist Mike Nesbitt said his members would not be voting in the Assembly debate.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said the IRA still exists but Sinn Fein has said it went away a decade ago.

Mr Nesbitt said: "Sinn Fein and the PSNI need to be on the same page about the condition of the IRA in 2015 otherwise there is no confidence, there is no trust, there is no credibility."

Four girls have been sentenced after a 13-year-old girl was subjected to a three-hour "sadistic, prolonged and vicious attack" in Derbyshire, UK.

The victim suffered cigarette burns on one cheek, had nettles rubbed on her other cheek, as well as being punched and kicked.

The girls, aged between 13 and 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Derby Youth Court today after pleading guilty to assault following the attack in Belper on May 2.

Chairwoman of the bench Judith Anderson said: "This was a premeditated, sadistic, prolonged and vicious attack. You held her against her will for three hours causing considerable fear and distress.

Prosecuting, Neil Hoodless told the court the girls asked the victim if they could speak to her round the back of a McDonald's restaurant near Chapel Street.

He said: "(The victim) heard one of the girls saying 'there's no cameras round there'."

Mr Hoodless said the girls grabbed the victim's hair and neck, banged her head against a metal bar and wrote insults in lipstick on her jacket. At one point, they pretended to let the victim go only to pull her back and continue their assault.

Reading from a victim impact statement, Mr Hoodless said: "She doesn't feel comfortable going out on her own, she has not been out in Belper since the attack. She was afraid that she might bump into one of them and it might happen again.

"She kept thinking about what they had done to her."

Three of the girls were given referral orders for nine months and asked to pay compensation of £100, costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £15.

Another of the girls was also sentenced for another attack on a man after he called her brother a "waste of space" and theft of a sandwich from a Co-op store in June. She was given four months in youth custody.

A fifth girl who was involved in the attack did not appear in court as she had already been referred to a youth offending team.

Mark Willis

A sex attacker who picked on the wrong woman has been jailed after discovering she was a kickboxer - and coming off worse, police said.

Mark Willis, 40, pounced on the 25-year-old woman, punching her in the face several times during the assault in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Willis tried removing the victim's clothes but she fought back, grabbing his arm and pinning him in a headlock between her legs.

She held him there until he "went limp" and was then able to escape and raise the alarm.

The defendant, of Pirton Lane, Churchdown, Gloucester was convicted after a trial of a single charge of sexual assault carried out just after 2am on August 31 last year.

Willis, who has previous similar conviction, had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of causing actual bodily harm.

Today at Bristol Crown Court he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' imprisonment, with an additional four years on licence by Judge William Hart. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "I'm extremely pleased that this traumatic ordeal is finally over and that I can move forward with life.

"I wish to thank the police and the officer in the case for their hard work in identifying and apprehending the offender and the support I've received.

"I hope the case will encourage others to come forward and speak to police if they are the victim of a sexual assault."

Detective Constable Faye Satchwell-Bennett, who led the investigation, said: "The victim has continued to demonstrate huge courage and bravery throughout this investigation.

"The judge rightly commended her and described her as being of 'great spirit and courage'.

"We are pleased with the lengthy custodial sentence passed upon Mr Willis, who clearly poses significant risk to the public, also having a previous conviction for a similar kidnapping offence against a female.

"There's little doubt in anybody's mind that without her martial arts skills the attack could have been far worse."

Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine spotted of Donegal (Pic: John Cunningham)

A British submarine damaged a fishing trawler that was towed quickly through the Irish Sea, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

The Karen was carried at 10 knots after the sub snagged in its fishing nets 18 miles from Ardglass on the south-east shore of Northern Ireland in April. The trawler was badly damaged but the crew escaped unharmed.

Ardglass is one of Northern Ireland's main fishing ports.

READ: Fisherman stumbles across military submarine off Donegal coast HERE

The trawler, Karen, was about 18 miles off the coast when its nets were snagged shortly after 4pm on Wednesday.

Skipper Paul Murphy told Down News: “Without warning, we were stopped and pulled backwards very violently at around ten knots which is the top speed of the vessel. I really thought that was it.  It was fortunate that one of the steel ropes holding the net snapped or we would have been pulled under very quickly.

"The incident only lasted about just over five seconds but it was very scary. The submarine did not come up to the surface after we tangled with it. We have now lost thousands of pounds of fishing gear because of this. It really should not have happened.”

Mr Murphy said the incident happened at a point known as the Calf of Man not far from the Isle of Man.

MoD minister Penny Mordaunt said: "The Royal Navy has now confirmed that a UK submarine was, in fact, responsible for snagging the Karen's nets. The incident, the delay in identifying and addressing the events on that day, and their consequences are deeply regretted.

"It is standing Ministry of Defence (MoD) policy not to comment in detail on submarine operations but, exceptionally, I can say that this incident occurred because the submarine did not correctly identify the Karen as a fishing vessel with nets in the water, and thus did not give her the berth she would otherwise have had.

"Moreover, had the submarine been aware of the incident at the time, which it was not, then the protocols in place under the code of practice for submarine operations in the vicinity of fishing vessels would have required the submarine to surface and remain on scene while the matter was investigated."

Trawler Karen (Pic: Down News)

The four fishing crew members scrambled to release wires connecting the net to the out-of-control trawler, which had been moving slowly forward but was suddenly sent careering backwards through the water.

As the ship steadied, the shaken trawlermen stopped to catch their breath but there was no sign of the cause.

The vessel made its way back to Ardglass. Part of the deck had to be lifted because it was so badly damaged, and another section was ripped off.

Shortly afterwards Ms Mordaunt said she was confident no British submarine was involved.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said: "Fishermen must be confident that their vessels will not be damaged by submarine activity and where incidents do take place, the Government will own up to it immediately.

"It's important now that the owner and crew of the Karen are compensated for the damage done to their vessel and the time they have lost at sea as a result. I will continue to pursue this matter until we have reached a satisfactory resolution."

Sinn Fein Stormont Assembly member Chris Hazzard said fishermen deserved to be able to work in an environment where they did not have to worry about submarines sinking their boats as fishing was already a dangerous occupation.

"The British Government and MoD must now explain their actions, if any disciplinary measures will be taken arising out of this incident and how it will avoid similar incidents in the future."

The UK’s Ministry of Defence was contacted at the time but said they do not comment on submarine activity for security reasons.

However scores of ships and aircraft from 13 countries were, at the time, taking part in war games off the coast of Scotland, in an unprecedented show of military strength.

The NATO exercises involved at least 55 warships, 70 aircraft and 13,000 sailors and included submarine hunts, amphibious landings and ship against ship attacks.

Gloucester Crown Court.jpg

A married female tutor seduced a 13-year-old boy during a lesson at his home then abused him for the next two years, a UK court heard.

Carolyn Keeling, 64, allegedly smoked cannabis and drank wine while teaching the boy, who she is said to have abused between 1993 and 1996.

Gloucester Crown Court heard Keeling stripped down to her underwear to sunbathe during an outdoor lesson on blankets outside the boy's home.

She started touching the teenager through his shorts and the pair later had sex with a condom she provided from her 4x4 car, a jury was told.

The incident was allegedly the start of abuse that lasted two years and involved Keeling having sex with the boy at least 100 times.

Prosecuting, Ed Burgess said the boy disclosed the abuse to his mother in 2012, after reading of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

He reported it to police in April 2014. Keeling, of Taynton, near Gloucester, was charged with six counts of indecent assault, which she denies.

"He talked about her as 'Mrs K'," Mr Burgess said. "He described her as being hippy-like in her mannerisms, in the way she behaved and dressed.

"He thought she was rather cool. He was a prematurely mature boy physically.

"He talks about his hormones raging and he wasn't going to turn down what she was offering.

"At the time he didn't see it as abuse, he rather enjoyed it.

"It was only later that he came to understand it as the sexual abuse that it was."

The court heard Keeling was so trusted by the boy's family that she was given a key to their home and let herself in to give him lessons.

She would often go in to the boy's bedroom - where he would sleep naked - and wake him up by getting in to bed with him, it is alleged.

Keen horse rider Keeling would also take the boy on nature walks and rides as part of his "rural sciences" work.

"They went out riding, dismounted from the horses and had sexual intercourse against a tree on one occasion," Mr Burgess said.

The alleged abuse stopped when the boy stopped his education at the age of 15 and left home to work.

"He liked Carolyn Keeling as a person and but for her he wouldn't be able to read or write and do basic maths in the way he can in adult life," Mr Burgess added.

The boy contacted Keeling when he was in his 20s to ask for a reference for a permanent job and the pair twice met to have sex, he added.

"She said it didn't feel right," Mr Burgess said. "He describes himself as being very fit - how could she not find him sexually desirable?

"Then he thought he was older and not a child any more. At that point he decided this woman must be a paedophile."

The boy, now a father of three in his thirties, told his mother that he had been in a sexual relationship with Keeling, in 2012.

"In about September or October 2012 the Jimmy Savile story was all over the news," Mr Burgess said.

"His mother received a phone call. She recalls how her son phoned her and was talking about the Jimmy Savile case.

"He said he had had sex with Carolyn Keeling when she was his tutor. His mother had no inkling there was anything amiss."

The boy contacted a sexual health centre in Gloucester in April 2014 and asked for the abuse to be reported to police.

mfl

Page 2: 14:14

In police interview, Keeling described the boy as "intelligent" and "bright" and said she would let herself in to his family home with a key.

She told officers the boy slept naked and she would sometimes go into his bedroom to wake him up for lessons.

"She said there may have been some unintentional contact with his bottom but nothing more than that," Mr Burgess told the jury.

"She would take him out in her car as part of his education. Rural sciences was part of his education and they would go walking together."

Keeling insisted she had never smoked cannabis with the boy and only drank "a sip" of champagne with him on one occasion, when he stole a bottle from his mother's bedroom.

She told officers she had a degree in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and would talk of personal sexual experiences to teach pupils.

After the allegations were revealed, she described herself as "gobsmacked", Mr Burgess said.

mfl

Page 3: 14:59

The alleged victim told the court of the first time Keeling allegedly had sex with him.

"It was hot," he said. "She had a bottle of wine in her car, which she went and got.

"I ended up in a pair of boxer shorts. She said 'do you mind if I take my top off, it's just the same as a swimming costume?'.

"I was a young lad. I wasn't going to say no to that situation.

"She was in her bra and a pair of knickers. I started getting aroused, she had a laugh about it.

"One thing led to another. She went to get a condom from her car."

The man said he did not report the abuse until 2014 as he saw Keeling as a friend.

"I didn't want to look at it in the light of what it basically was," he said. "It was an adult sleeping with a child.

"She told me if I said anything she would be in a lot of trouble and it would mess her life up."

He said he had decided to come forward after thinking about a "45 to 50-year-old" having sex with a young teenage boy.

"I would want them hung, drawn and quartered," he told the court.

Ciaran Murphy

Gardai are appealing for witnesses to an assault and house fire which occurred at Cloncur, Rhode, County Offaly, last night.

On arrival Gardaí discovered Ciaran Murphy (24) who had reportedly been beaten and stabbed and had extensive burn injuries.

He is currently in a critical condition at St James Hospital in Dublin.

The incident occurred between 11.30pm and 1.50am at a house at Coolcur in Rhode, authorities said.

Mr Murphy is believed to have escaped the house and was found by a passer-by at the rear of the secluded property.

His condition is described as critical. Gardai have received no reports of anyone else injured in the incident.

An incident-room has been set up at Tullamore Garda Station and a conference has taken place. House to house inquiries are currently taking place in the Rhode area.

A Family Liaison Officer has been appointed and is liaising with the family. The scene is currently preserved for technical examination.

This afternoon Inspector Kieran Keyes, Tullamore Garda Station, issued the following appeal:

"I am appealing for witnesses or anyone with information, particularly those who may have been in the Rhode area of County Offaly last night or early this morning, between 12 midnight and 2am Monday 7th September 2015 to contact Gardaí at Tullamore Garda Station on 057-9327600, The Garda Confidential Line, 1800 666111 or any Garda Station.”

Police who tracked down murderer Alexander Pacteau have been questioning escorts in Glasgow in the fear the he may have been violent towards other women.

Sources have revealed that phone records belonging to the twisted 21-year-old have shown a number of calls made to escorts in his home city in the weeks running up to Karen Buckley's (24) death.

It's understood that police are following "several leads" found on phones and laptops belonging to the Glasgow native who is to be sentenced for the murder of the popular Cork student and nurse tomorrow.

In a post on Saafe.Info last month, a website forum used by escorts used to discuss personal safety, one woman said she had given a statement to the police.

EXCLUSIVE: Karen Buckley's killer begged girl for sex favours in perverted chat log HERE

In the post she said she had a call from a Police Scotland detective who asked her about "the Karen Buckley murder and Alexander Pacteau."

The poster stated that she had been contacted by Pacteau, not knowing who he was, in the nights before Karen's murder, and her number had been found on his phone.

She said thankfully she never met him but was asked to give a statement to police.

"I have had shivers ever since," she wrote, "thinking of how I could have met him in Glasgow, that night. RIP Karen Buckley."

Last month, company director Pacteau admitted repeatedly hitting Ms Buckley with a spanner and strangling her in his car in April.

The vicious killer is now in protective custody in one of Scotland's toughest prisons, HM Barlinnie Prison, after the shocking revelations of how he bludgeoned Karen to death and then attempted to dissolve her body in a barrel of caustic soda.

He faces a life sentence after he pleaded guilty to the murder of the Cork nurse at Kelvin Way in Glasgow just minutes after Karen had left 'The Sanctuary' nightclub alone.

The former public schoolboy lured innocent Karen into his grey Ford Focus car with the offer of a lift home before first trying to strangle her and then beating her to death with a heavy 30cm spanner.

For a time he drove around Glasgow with Karen's dead body in the passenger seat of his car before trying to dissolve her remains in caustic soda in the bathtub of his flat and later in a plastic barrel.

He then hid the barrel in a storage shed on an isolated Glasgow hill farm.

Tomorrow's sentencing hearing is to be aired on TV.

Adam Cullen

Mike Nesbitt

Mike Nesbitt’s crusade for an official opposition is as paper thin as the notion of power sharing.

We call it power sharing, but little is shared, or achieved, at Stormont. 

In lifting the ball and leaving the pitch the UUP has simply underlined the chasm between our political parties reflected in our communities.

To pluck the notion of an official opposition, that somehow parties will be able to keep the Sinn Fein/DUP bandwagon in check, is misleading, opportunistic and ignores – not for the first time – what is really wrong with this place.  

To be fair this is not something Nesbitt has pulled out of the hat.  

When running as a candidate for the UUP leadership three years  ago he called for a referendum on political reform and in particular the introduction of an official opposition.

As a model it has hard to argue down, but the sad reality is we are not mature enough to handle a system of government that enshrines an official opposition.

Sad to say,  17 years after the signing of the  Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland is as culturally and religiously divided as it ever was.

The current system is far from perfect and because of the electoral strength of Sinn Fein and the DUP it is effectively a two party state.

The smaller parties in the Executive could hardly be described as `opposition’ and while they try to make life as difficult as possible for the big boys their voices are, inevitably, drowned out.

Our ruling parties bitterly disagree on almost every issue with unionists on the red white and blue side of the fault-line and nationalists on the green.

Our elections are single issue contests – green or orange – every issue the country faces is boiled down to the national question and religious intolerance.

Even the impasse on welfare cuts  has been reduced to a sectarian squabble- unionists to the right and nationalists to the left, their opposition at least partly borne out of a history of economic oppression .

No one will break cover for fear of being accused of treachery. Chances are slim  that an economically right wing catholic will vote DUP or an economically left win protestant would vote for Sinn Fein.

Our failure and that of the politicians to break free from this mind-set prevents us  from properly addressing unemployment, inequality and poverty, all of which perpetuate division.

And it lets the parties off the hook.  Sectarian voting guarantees them electoral success without having to make the compromises necessary to build bridges.

For an opposition to work we first have to strengthen the ties between our  separated communities and in a country  blighted by 48 `peace walls’  that’s going to be hard to do.

So, no Mike, an Opposition at Stormont is as workable as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Birmingham Children's Hospital

A 37-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering a toddler has been freed on police bail pending further inquiries.

The man, from Stourport in north Worcestershire, was among three people detained at the weekend following the death of an 18-month-old girl in Birmingham.

A post-mortem examination proved inconclusive and detectives are awaiting the result of further tests to determine the cause of death.

The child died at Birmingham Children's Hospital after reports that she had suffered a cardiac arrest at a property in the Weoley Castle area.

Officers had already bailed a 34-year-old man and are continuing to question a local woman, aged 35, who was arrested at the hospital following the girl's death on Saturday.

Emergency services are the scene of the fire last night (Credit: Rob Kennedy-Cochrane)

A set of apartments in the capital have been seriously damaged following an overnight blaze.

A fire broke out at a derelict site on Benburb Street on the northside of Dublin city. 

Three units of the fire brigade attended the scene after the alarm was raised before midnight.

The blaze, the origin of which is unknown, resulted in the Red Luas Line being blocked for a period of time. 

The Red Line has reopened since and is in full operation this morning.

There are no reports of anybody injured in the blaze.

However, a number of apartments located nearby are believed to have been seriously damaged. 

#Dublin Fire Brigade tackling #fire now at derelict site Benburb Street. #Luas line blocked. pic.twitter.com/FgzBZEZOiN

— Rob Kennedy-Cochrane (@robrtkc) September 7, 2015

The extent of the damage is unclear. An investigation has been launched.

Another Fire on Benburb St. These 2 buildings were built in the 1740's. This is the second fire. pic.twitter.com/5FtztMxnoT

— Dice Bar (@DiceBarDublin) September 7, 2015

FIRE: BENBURB STREET DUBLIN @DubFireBrigade at Fire earlier 2nite with @DFBAmbulance @DFBNo3 More Photos on site pic.twitter.com/r6kAlh6eEe

— Fire-Ireland.com (@FireIreland) September 8, 2015

Reunited: Cushworth and his wife and their son

A British father who feared his baby had been swapped at birth and sold to human traffickers in El Salvador has reportedly been reunited with his son after authorities tracked down the child by ordering other new mothers have their babies DNA tested.

Richard Cushworth, 41, originally from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and his Salvadoran wife Mercedes Casanellas had suspected that a doctor at the hospital where she gave birth exchanged their child for another as she slept.

After attending a special court hearing before a judge yesterday the couple were told that their biological baby had been identified before the swapped babies were handed back to their respective families, according to news website Elsalvador.com.

Attorney general Luis Martinez told reporters: "We have returned the babies to their legitimate parents. We hope that this has not happened on other occasions."

Mr Martinez said that a review of private and public hospitals' protocols would take place.

The couple's doctor, Alejandro Guidos, was arrested over the matter but had protested his innocence after being bailed.

Prosecutor Dinora Siguenza reportedly alleged yesterday that Dr Guidos was responsible for not following correct procedures and is still being investigated.

The couple left the Gynaecological Hospital Centre in the country's capital San Salvador with the newborn but made a public appeal on local TV three months on, after a DNA test revealed the boy, pictured above, was unlikely to be their biological son.

Ms Casanellas, 39, initially became suspicious when she noticed the features of her newborn differed from those of the boy doctors handed her the day after she gave birth by emergency Caesarean in May. In particular, she thought the second baby had darker skin.

She took the child to the couple's home in Dallas, Texas, but the pair, both missionaries working in El Salvador, returned to the Central American country after family members also expressed doubts.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in regular contact with the Cushworth family to provide support.

"A full investigation has been launched by local police and we will provide all the assistance that we can."

An Irish Rail spokesperson said the injury was caused during a trespass incident

Irish Rail commuters are experiencing major delays this morning after a man fell from the overhead lines onto the train tracks.

Services suspended Bray to Greystones, emergency service attending injured person on line. Dublin Bus accepting rail tkts to/from Greystones

— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) September 8, 2015

DART services between Bray and Greystones are suspended due to Gardai request. Dublin bus will accept rail tickets at present on this line.

— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) September 8, 2015

Update: Gardai have since announced that services between Bray and Greystones have resumed.

Co. Wiclow: Rail service between Bray and Greystones has resumed following an earlier incident.

— Garda Info (@gardainfo) September 8, 2015

However, delays are still expected.

The boy was "neglected" and "eating out of a dog bowl", said Judge Sarah Lynch

A toddler said to have been eating out of a dog bowl should be taken into council care and placed for adoption, a family court judge has concluded.

Social workers had started to investigate after receiving an anonymous call saying the little boy - now two - was "neglected" and "eating out of a dog bowl", said Judge Sarah Lynch.

The judge was told by a psychologist that the youngster's mother had a learning difficulty - and she heard that his father was unknown.

Judge Lynch concluded that the boy's mother was unable to meet his needs and would need 24-support every day if he stayed in her care.

The judge said the boy had "suffered harm" and would suffer more harm if he remained at home.

She said there was no other family members who could look after him.

Judge Lynch analysed the case at a hearing in a family court at Leeds and her ruling has been published on a legal website.

The judge said the youngster could not be identified - and she did not name the council which had responsibility for his welfare.

Karen's parents arrive at Glasgow High Court ahead of sentencing

The man who callously murdered Irish student Karen Buckley has been sentenced to life in prison for the heinous crime.

Update: 12.44:

Full video of Judge Lady Rae delivering the sentence

Judge Lady Rae this morning imposed a life sentence on Alexander Pacteau after he pleaded guilty last month.

He will serve a minimum of 23 years before he will be eligible for parole.

Judge Lady Rae said Pacteau had carried out a "brutal, motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman".

Judge imposes life imprisonment on Alexander Pacteau #karenbuckley

— Fiona Mitchell (@mitchefi) September 8, 2015

Judge tells #Pacteau he will never be released if he's still deemed a danger to the public after 23 year minimum term #TV3News

— Geraldine Lynagh (@GerLynaghTV3) September 8, 2015

Alexander Pacteau has just been led into court for his sentence hearing. Sitting feet in front of Buckleys #TV3News

— Geraldine Lynagh (@GerLynaghTV3) September 8, 2015

#karenbuckley def counsel says Pacteau has expressed remorse for the murder.

— Michael O'Toole (@mickthehack) September 8, 2015

Lady Rae says at no point has Pacteau used the words "regret, remorse or sorrow". #Karenbuckley

— BBC Glasgow & West (@BBCWestScot) September 8, 2015

Pacteau is ordered to stand by Lady Rae She says she finds it "extremely difficult" to find words to describe what he did #Karenbuckley

— BBC Glasgow & West (@BBCWestScot) September 8, 2015

Judge Lady Rae tells Alexander Pacteau, killer of Irish student Karen Buckley, you destroyed her young life & devastated her family

— James Matthews (@jamesmatthewsky) September 8, 2015

Lady Rae says "extraordinary" lengths Pacteau went to cover up murder shows lack of remorse for "killing another human being" #karenbuckley

— BBC Glasgow & West (@BBCWestScot) September 8, 2015

"Truly evil" Pacteau targeted 24-year-old Buckley when she was on a night-out with friends in the city's west end in April.

Last month, he admitted repeatedly hitting Ms Buckley with a spanner before strangling her in his car.

For a time he drove around Glasgow with Karen's dead body in the passenger seat of his car before trying to dissolve her remains in caustic soda in the bathtub of his flat and later in a plastic barrel.

He then hid the barrel in a storage shed on an isolated Glasgow hill farm. Pacteau initially claimed to detectives, who identified him from CCTV footage, that they had consensual sex at his flat and she had fallen and injured herself on the bed frame.

The 21-year-old is currently incarcerated at one of Scotland's toughest prisons, HM Barlinnie Prison.

Lady Rae continued: "I find it extremely difficult to find words appropriate to describe the dreadful crime to which you pleaded guilty.

"Karen Buckley was a young woman in the prime of life.

"To you she was a stranger who appeared tragically to have accepted a lift in your car.

"Within a matter of minutes, for some inexplicable reason, you destroyed her young life."

The judge said Pacteau had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to conceal what he had done and told a "tissue of lies" to police investigating her disappearance.

Miss Buckley's parents John and Marian travelled from Cork to see Pacteau plead guilty on August 11 and were in court again today.

The qualified nurse had only been in Glasgow for a few months before her killing.

She had recently left her job at an Essex hospital and moved to Scotland to study for a masters degree in occupational health therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Miss Buckley was described as an outgoing woman whose life revolved around her family and friends.

In a statement after the sentencing hearing, John Buckley said: "Today's life sentence will not bring our beautiful Karen back. "Our little angel was taken from us forever in the cruellest of ways.

"We mourn for her every day. (The sentence) will however ensure that women are safe from harm from the truly evil coward who took our beautiful Karen’s precious life.

"I hope that he is never released and spends every day in prison haunted by what he did.

"Marian and I would again like to thank the people of Scotland and Ireland, the Irish Gardaí and the Scottish police and prosecution service for all their help and support in bringing Karen’s killer to justice.

"We appreciate most especially those who keep us in their thoughts and prayers

"We all want to move on any try to piece our lives together. We have three wonderful sons and we need to be there for each other as a family.

"We would be grateful if we could now be left alone to grieve and our family’s privacy respected.

Sad: Jaxon Taylor

Grandparents of an 11-month-old toddler left to die in a sweltering car may face charges, authorities say.

Officials in northwest Georgia are still considering pressing charges against the grandparents of the child, who died on Saturday after being left in the hot car for two hours. 

Jaxon Taylor, not even a year old, was found unresponsive in the SUV vehicle as temperatures climbed above 90 degrees fahrenheit. 

According to a statement by the sheriff’s department, the toddler had been with family members returning from church in the mid-afternoon. The other members of the family exited the vehicle and headed for home, apparently without the youngster. 

The boy's mother, who is said to work nights, was at home asleep. She awoke two hours after the family members returned and immediately asked where the child was. 

Only then did the grandparents realise he was not present. 

They discovered the toddler unresponsive and performed CPR. Emergency services were called and the boy was rushed to hospital. 

However, he was pronounced dead a short time later. His body has been sent for an autopsy. 

Speaking yesterday,  Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said: "There was a lack of communication within the three adults. They assumed that one of the others had brought in the child and laid him down. They didn't communicate who would get the child."

Walker added they were keeping an open mind regarding charges and are awaiting the results of the autopsy. 

Investigators are saying the death was accidental, but charges against the couple may be considered when the results come back. 

The Department of Meteorology & Climate Science in California said the toddler was the 19th child to die in the United States so far this year because of being left inside a hot car.

Paul Mahoney

A social recluse whose bedroom-run internet piracy scam put the movie industry at risk of losing an estimated £120 million has been handed a four-year sentence, half of which will be spent in prison.

Paul Mahoney, 29, from Londonderry, made almost £300,000 through advertising revenue generated from his illegal websites offering access to the latest films and TV shows - many before general release.

During the six-year period he operated the racket, the partially blind loner claimed around £12,000 in state benefits.

Some £82,400 in cash was found hidden in the home where he lived with his parents when police searched the property in the Carnhill area of Derry.

Mahoney was sentenced at the city's Crown Court having pleaded guilty earlier this year to a series of offences, including conspiracy to defraud the film industry.

The investigation against Mahoney was led by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) in conjunction with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

At the pre-sentence hearing in Derry's crown court before judge Philip Babington, prosecutor David Groome QC said the money involved in Mahoney's "sophisticated fraud" was "quite staggering".

He highlighted forensic examination of the defendant's computers and internet history that showed in one six-month period illegal movie copies accessed through his website were viewed 1.1 million times.

Extrapolating that out, Mr Groome said: "During the six-year life of defendant's business that equates to something like movies being viewed on 12 million occasions. If you consider it is about £10 to go to the cinema or about £10 to buy a brand new DVD upon its release, it means the defendant's websites enabled users of it to view about £120 million worth of property."

The court heard that Mahoney first started his business in 2007, and over the next six years he changed his website name three further times in a bid to evade detection.

During this period, Mahoney was served with a cease and desist notice by Fact and was arrested twice by the PSNI. Despite these interventions, he continued to run the fraud, the court heard.