A KERRY man has been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of raping a woman while she slept in her bed.

Mr Justice Paul Carney has described a rapist’s claims that he was wrongly convicted as “contemptuous”.

A Co Limerick man who “terrorised” a 13-year-old girl during a prolonged sexual assault has had his prison sentence increased by two years by the Court of Criminal Appeal today.

The brother of murdered prisoner Gary Douch has been jailed for seven years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for possession of explosives.

Closing speeches have been heard in the trial of a Dublin man accused of a fatal shooting on the Clontarf Road four years ago.

An examination carried out on a Zimbabwean woman who claims her friend raped her as her daughter slept in the same bed showed no signs of assault a trial has heard.

A Meath father who raped his then 20-year-old daughter after both had consumed a lot of alcohol has been jailed for 10 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

THE Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) has reduced the prison sentence from eight years to six imposed on Kelly Noble for the stabbing to death of a young mother-of-two.

A Kerry teenager whose aggravated sexual assaults of two women within weeks included a threat to kill the second victim has today been jailed for 11 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

A Garda chief supt told the Special Criminal Court today that he believed a Dundalk father of one was a member of the IRA in October 2004.

A Kilkenny man accused of attempting to murder a friend he thought had HIV, told his cousin he “had seriously assaulted somebody” on the morning of the alleged incident, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

A judge directed a jury to find one of two men accused of murdering a 65-year-old grandmother not guilty due to insufficient evidence against the accused, at the Central Criminal Court today.

The trial of a 21-year-old man accused of murder has heard there were flies coming from the deceased’s nose after he was found up to 24 hours after his death in a disused building.

The uncle of a man shot in the back at a family funeral has denied suggestions that he was "looking for a fight" outside a Sligo cemetery, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

A Laois teenager accused of murder asked his grandmother for a hammer on the night in question, it was alleged at the Central Criminal court today.

A 37-year-old woman found with over €100,000 worth of cocaine in her home has been jailed for six years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A Limerick detective told the Special Criminal Court today that it was an "extremely" dangerous task to raid a house in the city where gardaí suspected there were firearms, ammunition and explosives.

A Dublin man who was given a suspended sentence last year for shooting two gardai and for possession of firearms and ammunition walked free from court again today when he was charged in connection with a road rage incident.

The 16-year-old passenger in a stolen sports car that killed two gardai last April wouldn't have been at liberty at the time had there been a residential place available for him.

A former soldier accused of murdering an 18-month infant did not suffer from mental illness, a consultant psychiatrist told the Central Criminal Court today.

A former UN sanctions inspector and ex Irish Army Ranger, charged with the murder of an 18-month-old infant, seemed unaware that he was sleeping beside the dead baby's body, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

On July 5, 1999, Murphy was off from work in Clifden, Co Galway, with injured ribs for which he received an anti-inflammatory injection and prescription painkillers, when he decided to visit the island.