A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Crash left boxer in vegetative state
A former champion boxer was left in a vegetative state after he was involved in a horrific road crash.
Gareth Holmes (20) was the back seat passenger in a classic car which hit a tree on March 13th, 2008. The 1980 Escort RS 2000 was being driven by Kevin McLaughlin (39), of Annaugh, Clonmany, Co Donegal, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious harm, driving without insurance and refusing to give a specimen.
Judge John O’Hagan sentenced him to three years in jail, suspending the last year on the dangerous driving causing serious harm charge. He sentenced him to six months, concurrent, for not having insurance, and banned him from driving for a year.
Fás boss admits morale damage
The head of Fás admitted yesterday that morale in the organisation had suffered following a series of controversies in the training authority, writes Paul O’Toole, director general of Fás, said that it was difficult for the good work of the organisation to be highlighted in the media when there were so many headlines about revelations.
Speaking in Galway at the presentation of certificates to Fás trainees, Mr O’Toole said one of his primary jobs was to restore confidence. He said he was not in a position to go into detail about the surprise announcement by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan that Fás would be revamped. He said he did not expect any compulsory redundancies.
Man who killed cellmate fails to have sentence overturned
A man who kicked and punched his Mountjoy prison cellmate to death has failed in an attempt to overturn his sentence of life imprisonment at the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Stephen Egan (27), formerly of Belcamp Crescent, Coolock, killed Gary Douche (20), also from Coolock, after the two men had been placed in a holding cell with five other inmates on August 1st, 2006. Egan’s trial heard he had been transferred to the basement holding cell without the anti-psychotic medication prescribed to him at the Central Mental Hospital.
He was found not guilty of murder but of manslaughter.
Appeal over drug conviction dismissed
A man’s appeal against his conviction for having drugs worth almost €140,000 has been dismissed.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday rejected arguments by Raymond Gartland (52), Ashgrove Lawn, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, that his conviction was unsafe on grounds including that his son allegedly made a statement to gardaí admitting responsibility for the drugs. In October 2008 he was convicted of having 19.5kg of cannabis and eight coin-bags of amphetamine at Barron Park, Clonmel, on October 12th, 2006, and was jailed for 12 years. He had denied the charges.