Peter Ball

A disgraced ex-bishop has admitted sexually assaulting two young men after failing in a bid to get his case thrown out on the word of an Archbishop of Canterbury who was assured the matter was closed 20 years ago.

Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball, 83, faced allegations of abusing boys and young men in Litlington, East Sussex, in the 1970s and 1980s after a review by the Church of England in 2012 prompted police action.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality based on the argument that Ball and former archbishop Lord Carey had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action.

Today, weeks before his trial was due to start at the Old Bailey, Ball, who has suffered ill health but was deemed fit to stand trial, dramatically pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.

He also admitted two counts of indecent assault on two separate males between 1980 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1991.

Two other counts of indecent assault on a boy of 12 or 13 and a 15-year-old youth were denied and will lie on file.

Ball, who entered his plea falteringly via video-link from Taunton, which is near his home in Langport, Somerset, was granted bail and will be sentenced on October 7 following a pre-sentence report.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality based on the argument that Ball and former archbishop Lord Carey had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action.

The court heard that, in 1993, the Church of England avoided scandal when Ball, by then Bishop of Gloucester, accepted a caution for a single historic allegation of gross indecency and resigned, despite Gloucester Police being aware of allegations by two more men.

On March 5 that year, his lawyer received a letter from the Crown Prosecution Service stating: "The view is taken that there is sufficient admissible, substantial and reliable evidence available to support prosecuting your client for offences of indecent assault and gross indecency.

"Having regards to all the circumstances, however, the Crown would be prepared to allow disposal less than prosecution - namely a caution for an offence of gross indecency with (a 19-year-old man) as an alternative to prosecution."

Ball's lawyer, Richard Smith QC, suggested the CPS may have settled on the caution to avoid the publicity of a bishop in the dock after discussion "behind closed doors" and not because there was no realistic prospect of conviction.

But he said: "The important thing is what was communicated to this defendant in this decision letter of March 5.

"On the wording they chose, it is clear it was sent to relate to all matters at large."

Giving evidence at that hearing, Ball insisted that the police officer who cautioned him had clearly told him that was the end of it.

He recalled: "After I took the caution I asked very clearly 'Does this include all other offences of the same nature?' before the taking of the caution and I was told very clearly that it did.

"I can remember so clearly I was so glad to get away - to get a guarantee that it was all over.

"That was the last words of the police officer - 'Bishop, it's all over'.

"I was so pleased I went like a rocket down to Cornwall to my brother."

Lord Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, appeared to back up his claim in his recollections of the incident which were read out in court.

On hearing the news of Ball's caution, he wrote: "I was troubled. I did not think this was good enough. I wanted some form of assurance.

"All we had was the resignation of Bishop Peter.

"I was worried that if any other allegations of past indecency were made it would reignite. I wanted some reassurance that this would not be the case.

"I was so troubled, that evening after dinner I went to my study.

"I was supplied with a number of a man at the CPS I believed to be a director. I do not recall his name.

"I rang him and asked what might happen if allegations from the past were made.

"I was told quite categorically that the other allegations would not be taken further as far as we are concerned.

"He has resigned. He is out of it. The matter is closed. We are not going to take anything any further."

The court heard that he asked for it to be put in writing but was refused.

The defendant also claimed that a promise to resign from his post was a condition of the police caution, even though he later explored the possibility of being allowed back to work.

The allegations resurfaced in 2012 when the Diocese of Bath and Wells reviewed the cases, prompting Sussex Police to reopen the investigation.

Last year, he was charged with misconduct in public office and a string of sex offences.
Cambridge-educated Ball was said to have many high-profile friends and acquaintances, including the Prince of Wales.

Ball was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until his resignation the following year.

He appeared frail and faltered as he entered his pleas before Mr Justice Wilkie.

Earlier, the senior judge had agreed with Mr Justice Sweeney's ruling against throwing out the charge of misconduct in a pubic office.

He also rejected the defence assertion that the assurances Ball was given in 1993 amounted to an "abuse of process" and also that he was now too sick to enter pleas or to stand trial.

According to the charge, Ball committed misconduct in a public office by "misuing his position in authority to manipulate and prevail upon others for his own sexual gratification".

Details of the long history leading to the former clergyman being charged could only be reported after restrictions were lifted by Mr Justice Wilkie.

The bodies of Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee were recovered from a shallow grave on reclaimed boglan

The families of two men who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA are making funeral arrangements after DNA tests were completed.

The bodies of Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee were recovered from a shallow grave on reclaimed bogland in June during a dig to find a third man killed and Disappeared by the Provos.

Tests on the remains have been ongoing throughout the summer, with Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) confirming they had been formally identified.

Sir Ken Bloomfield and Frank Murray, commissioners of the ICLVR - which coordinates liaisons with former terrorists, the dig and recovery operations, said the remains will be released to relatives in the coming days.

"The thoughts of everyone in the commission are with the Wright and McKee families at this difficult time," they said.

Funeral arrangements will be announced in due course by the Wright and McKee families.

The two IRA victims were unearthed on a farm near Coghalstown, Co Meath, after laying undisturbed for about 40 years in a shallow grave - one body on top of the other.

The pair vanished from Belfast in October 1972.

When originally dug by terrorists, the grave is thought to have been about one metre deep in the middle of a bog measuring at least 60,000 square metres.

The ICLVR was on site for several months this year searching for the remains of former Cistercian monk Joe Lynskey, also a victim of the IRA's "Disappeared" tactic, when the other bodies were found.

It is also only a few miles from where the body of Brendan Megraw was dug up last year following searches at Oristown, Co Meath.

Separate inquests will be held in front of Dr Brian Farrell, coroner for Dublin city

The pensioner is charged with sexually assaulting the girl as she sat in a shopping trolley

A pensioner has been charged with sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl in an Asda store.

Hugh Unwin, 75, is alleged to have assaulted the girl as she sat in a shopping trolley while her mother's back was turned to pick up an item from a shelf.

Sussex Police officers were called to the store in Crawley, West Sussex, at noon on Sunday to reports of a man acting suspiciously around the girl.

Unwin, of Garden Walk, Crawley, was remanded in custody when he appeared at Crawley Magistrates' Court on Monday, police said.

Detective Inspector Alan Pack said: "I understand that this will be worrying for all parents, but it is a rare incident and reinforces that vigilance pays off.

"If you were in the store around the time and saw anything suspicious or believe you have information that could be relevant to our investigation, please get in touch."

Unwin will next appear in court on September 25.

Gayle Newland

A woman told police of her disbelief when she discovered that her boyfriend of two years was a female friend, a jury has heard.

The complainant says she thought she was having sex with a man called Kye Fortune, who was recovering from a brain tumour and did not want her to see his scars.

But she claims she eventually discovered it was in fact her friend, Gayle Newland, 25, who had persuaded her to wear a blindfold throughout their sexual encounters in which a prosthetic was used.

Newland, of Hooton Road, Willaston, is on trial at Chester Crown Court where she denies five counts of sexual assault between February and June 2013.

The court heard that the alleged victim received a Facebook friend request in 2011 from a Kye Fortune who purported to be a half-Filipino, half-Latino young male.

They communicated online and "Kye" later told her he had been involved in a car accident and medics had found he had a brain tumour.

He was having treatment in hospital and was not well enough to see her, the complainant told police in a video interview.

But the pair spoke frequently on the phone where the complainant described Kye's voice as "high-pitched".

The complainant told the interviewing officer: "He was saying how much I had helped him get through his illness.

"(He said) it was a sign, we should get married, we should have kids, we were going to do all sorts of things."

During this time, the complainant said she met Newland - who became a "really good friend" and said she knew Kye.

Eventually the complainant and Kye decided to finally meet in person at a Chester hotel, the jury heard.

She told police that the only stipulation that Kye made was that she wear a blindfold because he was "anxious about the way he looked" and "could not walk properly" due to nerve and muscle damage.

She said Kye was in the bathroom when she entered the hotel room and the bed was covered with rose petals and Hello Kitty bears.

The complainant said she put on the blindfold of a sleeping mask and scarf and that a "shaking" Kye came in and said he had signed himself out of a private hospital in Manchester.

The pair then had sex, she alleges, before Kye said he had to return to hospital.

Further hotel visits followed where she said sex took place again before Kye visited her flat and finally uncovered the truth, the court heard.

Describing what she said was their last sexual encounter before she went to the police, she said: "When I was having sex I grabbed for the back of his head and my hand got caught on something. It did not feel right.

"I was sat on the bed, he was standing up. Something in my mind said 'pull it (the blindfold) off, pull it off'.

"I just pulled it off. Gayle was just standing there ... I just couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it.

"Straight away she held her hand down over her face and said 'it's not what you think'."

The complainant said Newland then referred to a previous conversation they had had about a movie called 17 Again in which a character is transported into a younger body and has to convince people it is actually him.

She told the interviewing officer: "I couldn't believe that person would want to do something like this to me ... these last two years had fabricated this world around me.

"He ... Gayle ... pulled the wool over my eyes."

She went on: "I don't go for women, that is not my thing.

"I know you can't compare rape case to rape case, I know I shouldn't be saying this ... I think I would have preferred it, I know it sounds sick, the fact that it was a girl. I didn't know what to do with myself.

"I did not want to go to a doctor and say I was raped by a girl."

She told the officer that she believed the deception would still be continuing if she had not pulled off the blindfold.

Anthony Aidan Leacy confronted by our man

A CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE who has set up home 500 metres from a rural primary school insisted: “The children are dead safe from me.”

In a shocking interview with the Sunday World, Anthony Aidan Leacy this week retracted his guilty plea to sexually assaulting a seven and eight-year-old girl in the basement workshop of his house, before labelling his helpless victims “liars”.

Leacy (57), was released from the Midlands Prison in August after serving two years for showing the girls sexually explicit materials and involving them in games where he would expose himself to them, weeks before they were due to make their first Holy Communion.

Incredibly, Leacy, who is now living in a bungalow a short distance from Shielbaggan National School in Wexford, this week told us one of the little girls made up the sexual assaults because she was jealous of his daughter’s collection of ‘Bratz’ toys and then convinced the other little girl to go along with her.

And the former OPW worker – who was employed at the Botanic Gardens in Dublin, Killarney National Park and Kennedy Arboretum in Wexford – claims he pleaded guilty to the shocking litany of offences only because his legal team advised him to do it.

“As far as I’m concerned it was pure jealously… jealousy over what my little one had,” Leacy claimed, in spite of his clear acknowledgement in court that everything the little girls alleged was true.

“The three of them were in the one school and my little one played football for the school at that time.

“And my little one had everything – everything.

“She had all the Bratz toys… Bratz was the big thing at the time and she had all the Bratz stuff... she had the Bratz electronic jeep, everything.

“Now that little one came to my house and she actually broke my little one’s stuff and fired it all over the house.

“And her father came in and he made her clean it all up – you know what I mean.

“It was just pure jealousy.

Our man confronted Leacy 

“It was two kids that, one made up the stories and got the other one to go along with her.

“This is going back to court. 

“One garda stood in court and said that I got the girls to strip off and to bend down and turn around in a circle and that kind of stuff… where does it end? 

“You know what I mean? She’s not getting away it for God’s sake. It’s slander.

“I didn’t plead guilty to that. 

“I pleaded guilty to the fact I showed the kids videos, DVDs, heavily illustrated pornographic material and they were supposed to have looked at my body through a magnifying glass. That’s as far as I can go.

“But there was no DVDs, no videos, none of that found in my premises. 

“And I know you’re standing there and looking at me and going ‘why would you plead guilty if you didn’t do it’?

“But I did, that’s what I did. I was feckin’ eejit, I was a shagging eejit.”

At his 2013 trial the court heard the offences occurred days before the youngsters were due to make their First Holy Communion.

On one occasion, he showed both girls adult pornographic books in the basement. When the little girls were confused about the content of the films, he offered a detailed explanation of sex acts to them.

Pervert Anthony Aidan Leacy lives in bungalow beside school

Leacy also used to play ‘special’ games with the girls in the basement, one of which involved him dropping his pants and exposing himself to them.

He also encouraged the little girls to mimic his actions and then remove their own underwear, exposing their private parts.

The only actual physical contact that took place between the defendant and both girls was when he lifted them over his shoulder and tapped them on their bare backsides.

On another occasion, he had his penis examined by the girls with a magnifying glass as part of one the games he played with them.

The offences came to light when one of the girls spotted her mother changing a baby’s nappy.

The girl, indicating a gentle tap on the backside, told her mother: ‘‘That is what Tony does to us.’’

Asked if he is still a danger to children Leacy said: “You must be joking me, I was completely and utterly set up.

“It’s a fairly sort of a strange thing. I was told weeks beforehand by one of the girls that the other girl was going to tell stories to get me into trouble.

“The little girls lied.

“I spent two years and three months locked up in prison for something I didn’t do.

“I only pleaded guilty on legal advice. When you don’t know anything about the law and you’re sitting in a garda station and have never been in a court in your life, it’s very easy to listen to your legal team and go along with them.”

Asked why anyone would plead guilty to such serious offences if they weren’t guilty, Leacy responded: “Well I did – but you would have to have been beside me at the time.

“I have another legal team working on it and I have the Innocence Project working on it and they came to visit me in prison.”

Asked whether he had anything to say to allay the concerns of worried parents in Shielbaggan, Leacy said: “The parents have no worries of me and that’s genuine. I know that and only I can know that.

“All I want is a quiet life and to go down the village and have some kind of a quiet life. The children are dead safe.”

Shocking eye-witness footage has emerged showing a couple of youths smoking heroin in a doorway on a busy Dublin street.

The footage, which was sent to independent.ie by an unnamed eyewitness, was recorded on Drury Street in Dublin.

"I work in the city centre. I see this every day", claimed the eyewitness.  

He said that he spotted the young couple in the doorway with a large Animal bar and thought they were eating chocolate until he took a second look.

"They only wanted the animal bar for the tinfoil. Most bars have gotten rid of tinfoil but the Animal bar still has it".

"They produced a little ball of heroin... smoking it right there in broad daylight, oblivious to tourists, everything!"

"They were so brazen... so detached, for such young people".

He said that the city's drug problem is "getting worse".

"I feel sorry for the guards, their hands are tied".

"There's nothing to be done... I wouldn't want to be searching somebody with the fear of getting pricked by a needle... it's not fair on the guards".

A SECOND Dublin teenager has been given a six-month custodial sentence for his role in the mugging of a Scottish tourist in Temple Bar.

The boy, 16, had originally pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbery from the man who had his wallet containing about €350 stolen at Essex St West on June 15 last year.

This required the victim to travel back to Ireland, in the middle of his holidays, to give evidence for the prosecution.

However, minutes before the trial at the Dublin Children's Court was about to begin he and a co-defendant changed their pleas to guilty.

The teenager's sentencing had been adjourned for a Probation Service report to be furnished and he had been warned that the case warranted a custodial sentence.

Judge John O'Connor was furnished with a negative report on the teenager, who had grinned as the victim, Robert Robson gave evidence during the trial.

The boy, who has continued to come to garda attention, had not turned up for appointments with his probation officer.

Finalising the case, Judge O'Connor gave the teen a six-month sentence.

Last month, his co-defendant, another 16-year-old boy, was also given a six-month term in a juvenile detention centre for his role in the robbery.

Garda Bernard Maguire had shown the court CCTV evidence of the victim being surround by a gang and pushed against a window before he was struck to the head by a member of the group resulting in him falling to the ground.

Neither of the defendants, who showed no remorse during the hearing, hit the man but were part of the gang that surrounded him on the street at 1.15am, the court heard.

Gda Maguire had disagreed that the guilty pleas was of assistance to the prosecution saying he had all his witnesses ready for the trial. The teens had also been identified on CCTV footage, the court heard.

The victim, Robert Robson, told the court that he recalled being surrounded and “it was fairly obvious it was not going to end well”. He said his jaw hurt and he was bruised afterwards.

It was his second trip to Dublin and “I was not planning to come back in a hurry, it is not something you would expect”.

“You wouldn't advertise that,” he had said.

“I'm not going to say it left me mentally scarred but I was pretty shaken up by it,” Mr Robson added.

Judge O'Connor had said the man had a terrible experience.

The court was told one of the boys had a prior conviction for theft for which he received community service, while the co-defendant had previously been given the Probation Act for a public order offence.

Two adult co-defendants, including one who is alleged to have hit the victim, are awaiting trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Alan Shatter

A COUNCIL worker has admitted sending former Justice Minister Alan Shatter a litany of vile anti-Semitic emails.

Dublin District Court heard Mr Shatter was left distressed and did not know what would happen next after he got persistent emails calling him a “perfidious Jew” and “Yiddish whore”.

The sender was John Dillon, 55, with an address at Whitethorn Gardens, Palmerstown, Dublin, who was suffering from depression and "went over the edge"  and began to act “quit manic” after a long-term relationship ended, Judge Anthony Halpin heard.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court today to harassment of Mr Shatter from February until April 8th, 2014; the charge is under Section 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. His case was adjourned until November for a probation report on his suitability to carry out 100 hours community service in lieu of a six-month jail sentence.

Detective Ciaran O'Neill told Judge Halpin that in April 2014, the Garda Special Detective Unit, "commenced an investigation into a number of abusive and anti-Semitic emails to the then Minister of Justice".

The council worker sent 10 emails over a five-week period to Mr Shatter's email address when he was still a senior government minister. 

Shatter's statement to gardai and printouts of the offensive emails were handed in to Judge Halpin.

Det Garda O'Neill said the material he furnished gave "the level of the content of the emails that were sent".

Judge Halpin read out extracts from some of them because of the upset they caused to the former minister “the public should be given a flavour of these emails”.

The email on March 3rd, 2014 to Mr Shatter stated: “Resign you Jewish, Rathgar, circumcised prick”.

Another one on March 13th read: “perfidious Jew unable to give a breath test, fuck off back to Russia you Yiddish whore”.

The email the former minister received on April 8th last year said: “Fuck off back to the West Bank Zionist asshole”.

Dillon told investigating gardai that he was exercising his right to free speech and cited Bunreacht na hEireann and European law.

The council worker told investigators it was a "political matter" but Det Garda O'Neill told the judge, "I think his position has changed since".

He also added that when questioned, Dillon admitted the offence and was co-operative in his Garda interview and had no prior criminal convictions

Oisin Clarke BL, defending, furnished the court with reference from Dillon's workplace superior and Judge Halpin agreed it was at “polar variance” to the emails sent by Dillon.

Pleading for leniency, Mr Clarke said that in 2008 Dillon was put on medication to treat depression and he had to take six months off work.

Around the time he sent the emails a 10-year relationship had just come to an end and this was the “catalyst that put him over the edge”. It was the anniversary of his father's death.

His family noticed he was making derogatory remarks about people they knew.

Pleading for leniency he said Dillon was “going through some form of episode, in terms of his depression” but he has recovered from that and he accepts his comments to Mr Shatter were completely inappropriate.

His sister Maura Dillon gave evidence and told the judge that her brother's behaviour had been out of character and he appeared “quite manic”, was talking incessantly on his mobile phone and she confirmed he had become verbally abusive about people known to the family.

Dillon's mother asked him if he was still on his medication.

In his statement to gardai Mr Shatter said: “I got them because I am Jewish, no matter how much a hard neck you have, persistence of that nature is upsetting and distressing. I was concerned one went directly to the Taoiseach”.

“For any Jewish person to receive this is upsetting, when it is persistent and ongoing you do not know what the next step will be for this person, all this is in the back of your mind when you receive this stuff”.

Judge Halpin said Shatter was then Minister for Justice and Defence and it was to his credit that the emails “did not affect his prodigious output of work”.

He said Dillon had subjected Mr Shatter to “contemptuous ridicule and was seeking to justify it by freedom of speech”.

However, he noted that Dillon has taken responsibility for his actions, shown remorse and the Stirling references furnished to the court.

He said the man was labouring under personal mental grievances at the time and the mitigating factors persuaded the court to deal with him in a non-custodial fashion. A probation report was sought to canvas his suitability for community service.

Naomi Campbell in Dublin today

INTERNATIONAL supermodel Naomi Campbell breezed into Dublin today to be unveiled as the new face of Newbridge Silverware.

The Londoner – who was once engaged to U2’s Adam Clayton - will work with Newbridge Silverware to launch its ‘little blue box’ campaign and to promote its new and existing collections over the next two years. 

The new campaign will focus on the surprise and delight of giving or receiving a gift in the iconic Newbridge Silverware blue box no matter what the occasion. 

“I am thrilled to be here in Ireland for this announcement,” said Naomi.

“When I was initially approached by William Doyle and his team, I was instantly intrigued by the Newbridge Silverware story. 

“I was fascinated by the company’s heritage having evolved from a premium cutlery manufacturing business to one of Ireland’s biggest jewellery and homeware brands.

The design, creativity and craftsmanship associated with all the products made by Newbridge Silverware is really impressive.

“For me this partnership is about making affordable, quality design available to style lovers all over the world. I look forward to working with Newbridge Silverware to help tell their story over the next two years.”

Commenting on the announcement, William Doyle, CEO, Newbridge Silverware said:

“We are delighted to today reveal Naomi Campbell as the new face of Newbridge Silverware. As one of the most beautiful and recognisable faces in the world, Naomi embodies grace, style, beauty and strength and is the ideal fit for us. 

Working with Naomi, we want to take our brand to a new level and continue to grow our appeal both in Ireland and internationally.”

“Our new campaign will focus on the joy of giving or receiving a gift from Newbridge Silverware. It doesn’t matter what the occasion is, when you receive a gift in our famous blue box, be it homeware or jewellery, you know it will be something special.”

Gardai from Mountjoy station have seized a quantity of Zopiclone tablets, worth an estimated €42,000.00.

The pills, which are also known by the brand name Zimovane, were discovered at a house off Rutland Street in Dublin 1.

The seizure took place this morning, shortly after 11 a.m and was part of an ongoing operation into the illegal sale and supply of controlled drugs in the north inner city.

No arrests were made during the search.

Martin McGuinness

Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness has called for an "earnest endeavour" at the start of all-party talks about paramilitarism and welfare reform.

Creating a workable budget for the devolved institutions at Stormont and implementing last year's Stormont House Agreement will be part of discussions covering the next four weeks.

The largest parties attended the meeting in Belfast called by the British and Irish Governments.

Mr McGuinness said: "Our position is that the IRA are gone, that they represent no threat whatsoever.

"What we need to do is find a way forward that ensures a workable budget for the Executive, the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and the British Government living up to its responsibilities and also to find a way forward which allows everybody to be involved in earnest endeavour."

He said there were people in parts of Belfast and Londonderry who "masquerade" as republicans and purported to be the IRA, adding to the mix of confusion about whether the IRA existed.

Mike Nesbitt, leader of the Ulster Unionists, said unblocking the impasse over welfare reform could include providing money for mental health; cash unspent on legacy issues covered by the Stormont House Agreement could be used for welfare.

He added some £20-£25 million of legacy money for historical investigations will be lost to the Northern Ireland Executive this financial year, due to the impasse in implementation of the Stormont House Agreement.

"London has already conceded the principle of funding legacy issues.

"There is no reason why the UK Government should not offer additional funds for Northern Ireland's mental health issues which are legacy and not covered by the Barnett Formula (which sets funding for devolved regions) and therefore unlike welfare have no implications for Scotland or Wales."

He acknowledged an "inconsistency" in his party attending the negotiations when it was not sitting in the Executive but added he would make his position clear to the other parties.

He added: "Even if we get through welfare there are huge and fundamental issues to be resolved and we will be uncompromising in terms of putting it to others to live up to their responsibilities as we will live up to ours."

Senior Democratic Unionist Arlene Foster said the talks would be intensive and her party was in solution-finding mode.

"We never for one moment thought there would not be a continuation of criminality and criminal activity because we know some people are wedded to criminality but we have to make sure that it does not seep into the democratic institutions of Northern Ireland."

She added: "We want the Stormont House Agreement to be implemented and want to be able to make sure that Stormont works for everybody in Northern Ireland."

David Ford, leader of the cross-community Alliance Party, said his team was in determined mood.

"I have got children in this society, I have got grandchildren in this society. I am fed up with the notion that we have quick fix, year after year.

"What we have to do is solve the problems and really engage."

Shi-Anne Downer

A woman has been charged with murdering a toddler who was taken to hospital after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest.

Kandyce Downer, from Weoley Castle, Birmingham, will appear before magistrates in the city tomorrow accused of killing 18-month-old Shi-Anne Downer.

The unemployed 35-year-old, of Beckbury Road, faces a separate charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Shi-Anne, also known as Keegan Downer, died on Saturday morning at Birmingham Children's hospital.

A post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death was inconclusive and further tests will now take place.

A 37-year-old man from Stourport in Worcestershire and a man aged 34 from Oldbury, near Birmingham, have both been released on police bail pending further enquiries and will return for further questioning on a date next month.

A police spokesman said Shi-Anne had been placed with Downer, an extended family member, under a special guardianship court order.

Jeff Hendrick

AN IRISH international football star has appeared in court charged with violent disorder outside a nightclub in Dublin city centre. Jeff Hendrick (23) was remanded on bail at Dublin District Court.

The Derby County midfielder is charged with violent disorder at Harcourt Street on October 12 last year.

Garda Damien Beakey told Judge Anthony Halpin Mr Hendrick was charged at Pearse Street Garda Station at 3.46pm.

He made no reply to the charge after caution and was handed a copy of the charge sheet.

Garda Beakey told Judge Halpin there were no injuries alleged.

He said the DPP was directing summary disposal of the case.

This means it can be dealt with at district court level instead of being sent for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, which has greater potential sentencing powers.

Judge Halpin accepted jurisdiction to deal with the case at district court level.

Garda Beakey said there was a co-accused who was due to appear in court on a date in October.

Judge Halpin adjourned Mr Hendrick's case to the same date.

He remanded him on bail in his own bond of €200, with no cash lodgement required.

The defence solicitor said Mr Hendrick was a professional footballer who played in the UK.

He said Mr Hendrick was due to play a match the day after the next court appearance and asked Judge Halpin to excuse him from attending.

Judge Halpin excused Mr Hendrick from attending on the next date.

He also made an order for disclosure of  prosecution documents to the defence.

Mr Hendrick, who wore a blue shirt, red tie, navy trousers and brown shoes did not address the court during the brief hearing.

He was one of a number of men arrested by gardai investigating the alleged incident.

He is originally from Kilmore in north Dublin and has represented the Irish senior national team on nine occasions, including last year's away qualifiers against Germany and Scotland.

Andrew Phelan 

Sean ‘Cowboy’ Hanley

SHATTERED bullet holes in his kitchen window mark the chilling moment INLA hitmen came to take out one of Ireland’s veteran gangsters.

It is the second time Sean ‘Cowboy’ Hanley cheated a violent death.

He was unharmed in the latest late-night attack at his remote rural home last week.  

Gunman ignored ‘no shooting’ signs and fired shots through window

Sources say he was targeted by gunmen from the Irish National Liberation Army – a rag-tag band of criminals and former terrorists.

Hanley was previously wounded two years ago when a bomb went off under his car at his old home in Co. Offaly.

He moved, but this week his would-be killers tracked him down to his new location in Co. Tipperary.

A gunman ignored a ‘no shooting’ sign on the fence and pumped two bullets through the window.  

No-one responded when the Sunday World called to this house last week, where a heavy garda presence remained two days after the attack outside Roscrea.

Two men were later arrested and have been questioned by gardaí under the Offences Against the State Act.

A previous attempt on the cattle dealer’s life in 2013 was linked to the murder of Limerick mob boss Kieran Keane in 2003. Members of the Keane faction blamed associates of Hanley for sheltering people alleged to have been involved in the killing organised by the McCarthy-Dundon gang.

Hanley got a 10-year-sentence for drug smuggling in 2008 when he was caught with a three-kilo stash of methamphetamine at Mountrath. 

He is still believed to control a large fortune, which he made from drug dealing with his pal Jim ‘Chaser’ O’Brien.

Dylan Corcoran

21-year-old Dylan Corcoran, who had been missing from is home in Leixlip since the 3rd of September, has been located safe and well.

Donal Og Cusack and his partner Nathan Adams

Following this weekend's revelations in the Sunday World, hurling legend Donal Óg Cusack and his male model partner, Nathan Adams, have announced their relationship on social media.

Nathan Adams, the top male model who won the heart of GAA legend and RTE pundit Donal Óg Cusack,  exclusively revealed to the Sunday World that he has been dating the former Cork goalie for two months, and that the pair are madly in love.

Donal Óg made history in 2009 when he revealed he was gay ahead of the release of his best-selling autobiography, Come What May, making him the first Irish sports star to come out. 

Since he had the courage to make the announcement, his brother and fellow Cork hurler Conor also came out. 

The hurling supremo, a panelist for RTE’s Sunday Game, has never been publicly linked to anyone, but now we can reveal that he is dating one of the favourites to win the Mr Ireland title later this year.  

Now, just two days after the Sunday World revelation, Donal O'g and Nathan have announced their relationship on social media, with the caption: 

Anytime I'm in Dublin it's to attend a Modelling Job,good to get a weekend off in my 2nd home for a change with @DonalOgC ‪#‎MyMan‬

Well wishers wrote "Enjoy, laugh & love XxX Happiness is everything enjoy guys" and "All the best to u both" beside the picture of the happy couple. 

READ: Cork model tells of romance with hurling legend Donal Og Cusack

The fire reportedly caused extensive damage to the facility

A fire has seriously damaged a disused army barracks in Kildare which was being considered by the government for incoming refugees.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the blaze at Magee barracks in Kildare town last night. 

According to Kildare Now, the fire is smouldering after subsiding early this morning. 

Fire brigades attended the scene last night after reports the disused site had been set alight. 

Magee Barracks is one of a number of State facilities being considered by the government to house incoming refugees. 

However, the unused facility had fallen into disrepair and locals have reported numerous fires at the site in the last year alone. 

The barracks itself were closed in 1998. It severed as a home for Kosovan refugees and asylum seekers for a couple of years, and was then abandoned.

Among the other army facilities being considered are Gormonston in Meath, St Bricin’s Hospital, Arbour Hill, Dublin, Kickham Barracks in Clonmel and Columb Barracks in Mullingar. 

Video courtesy of Kildare Now.

The teen pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children's Court to burglary at at Boylesports on Main Street in Swords

A 16-year-old boy has been given a four-month sentence for his role in an armed burglary at a Dublin bookmakers.

The boy, who cannot be named because he is a juvenile, pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children's Court to burglary at at Boylesports on Main Street in Swords on February 9 last.

Garda Conor Tumbleton told Judge John O'Connor the boy and a co-defendant were discovered after the alarm activated. They fled the bookmakers and got onto the roof of an adjacent building. They jumped over an alleyway onto a flat roof of another building and they refused to get down. 

Garda negotiators were called out and eventually the pair came down.

CCTV from the bookmakers showed the co-accused had a gun which was later recovered from the roof, said Gda Tumbleton. 

Gda Tumbleton said that the weapon has been analysed and was found to be a 6mm air-gun but it was a “realistic imitation”. 

No one was in the bookmakers at the time, the court also heard. The teenager had nine prior criminal convictions which included burglary and other theft offences.

Finalisation of the case had been adjourned to allow time for a pre-sentence probation report to be furnished to the court. In mitigation pleas, defence counsel Damian McKeone addressed the court and asked Judge O'Connor to note the boy's young age.

He said the teenager is in full-time care of Child and Family Agency and had a drug problem but has started to engage with a substance abuse treatment service. He has also managed to get work and has recently resumed having contact with his family. 

The boy, was accompanied to court by his mother and staff from his care home, and sat silently as the judge said he had considered imposing a 12-month sentence but in light of the probation report he said he was giving the youth four months' detention.

Judge O'Connor also ordered that the teenager would be required to remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for four months after his sentence ends.

The boy also had a breach of the peace charge taken into consideration while his remaining charges  –  burglary, robbery and cannabis possession – were adjourned until a later date.

An 18-year-old co-defendant is also before the courts in connection with the burglary at the bookies.

The group took off from Santry today

Up to 130 cyclists made up of Gardai and supporters, took part in a charity cycle today to raise funds and awareness for St Francis Hospice.

Now in its 26th year, the annual charity cycle - organised by the St Francis Hospice Garda Support Group - has raised more than €600,000 for the care facility and organiser Gary Kelly is hoping to add a big donation to their total this year. 

“We originally started as a small group when a colleague’s wife was cared for in St Francis’s,” says Gary.  “It’s grown over the years and we’ll have at least 130 riders taking part this year.

“At the moment it’s looking like we’ll raise about €40,000 this year which is fantastic and it will go to help the two facilties in Raheny and Blanchardstown.”

The group will be travelling from Santry to Carlingford covering 115km by the end of the day. 

“They’ll be tired lads by the time they hit Louth alright,” says Gary, “But we might be able to organise a lift home for them afterwards.”

If you’d like to donate to the group, many of the cyclists have registered on mycharity.ie or you can donate directly to the Hospice here 

The cyclist collides with the back of the vehicle

A cyclist avoided serious injury after colliding with a car in Dublin city yesterday morning.

Footage of the incident was uploaded to Facebook by Johnny Eutah, who filmed the collision on a headcam. 

Mr Eutah was tailing the cyclist when he attempted to overtake the vehicle on its right side.

Just as he was about to go around the car pulled out ever so slightly and he collided with the back of it. 

"He got up and talked to the car owner but the driver never got out and I don't think details were exchanged," Eutah said. "Feel bad for the driver.

"I talked to the cyclist after and he seems like a nice guy, just made a mistake. Stupid mistake all be it. Schools are back now so have to slow down."

The minor collision occurred on Eglington Road near Donnybrook.