Other court stories in brief
Suspended term for pellet gun robbery
A Wexford man who robbed a newsagents with a pellet gun after he and his friends dressed up "as al-Qaeda for Halloween" has escaped with a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
On November 1st, 2006, Lee Nolan (21), Sarshill, Kilmore, drank beer and smoked cannabis. After dropping one of his friends home, he decided to rob Ray's Newsagents in Ringsend, Dublin, using the gun which was part of his costume. Judge Patrick McCartan sentenced Nolan to three years, suspended in full for three years on strict conditions, including that he pay €3,000 compensation to the shop workers within one year.
Applicant to game show loses case
A man who injured himself during endurance trials to select a crew for RTÉ's reality game show Cabin Fever has lost a €38,000 personal injuries claim for damages against the film makers.
Seán Hickey (61), Cahill's Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, yesterday told the Circuit Civil Court he was one of 10,000 applicants for the programme filmed by Coco Television Productions.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane dismissed Mr Hickey's claim and said he ought to have known there was risk involved.
Judge finds mast to be exempt
A High Court judge has overturned a decision of An Bord Pleanála that a partly built telecommunications mast near Ballymote railway station in Co Sligo, which was designated a protected structure after the works began, now requires planning permission. Mr Justice Frank Clarke found the structure beside Ballymote station was exempted development when work began on it in 2004 and that it continued to be so after the station was added to a list of protected structures.
Stabbing victim a shooting suspect
The jury in the trial of a Mountjoy prisoner accused of murdering another inmate has heard that the dead man had been the main suspect in a shooting incident in a Cabra pub in 2005.
Declan O'Reilly, Parnell Road, Crumlin, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Derek Glennon on June 25th, 2007.
Det Sgt O'Reilly said that in 2005 a man entered The Fassaugh House pub one evening carrying a semi- automatic pistol and fired eight bullets, five of which hit the victim, who suffered a shattered jaw.
Det Sgt O'Reilly said Glennon "quickly became the main suspect". He was living in Phibsboro and was on the run. He had been involved in a fight in a take-away the night before and was drinking in Fassaugh House on the day of the shooting.
The row began again in the car park of the pub and Glennon "came off worse". The shooting happened later that day and the injured party picked Glennon out in an informal identity parade.
Det Sgt O'Reilly described Declan O'Reilly as "straight up and helpful" during interviews in relation to the fatal stabbing of Glennon.
O'Reilly told gardaí that he thought Glennon was going to attack him in the prison yard. "I panicked, I don't remember doing all these." He said he had been bullied and intimidated by Glennon.
"I couldn't handle it any more. I was terrified of him. I thought he was going to attack me in the yard. I'm just sorry this happened."
The prosecution has finished its case and the jury is expected to begin its deliberations tomorrow.