A judge who sentenced a Meath man to two and a half years in prison for assaulting his girlfriend did not inquire into an allegation that the man locked the woman in a dog cage, his lawyers claimed at the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Some of the stranger stories from around the world

One of the country’s few agencies for dealing with adolescent sex offenders has said that it is seeing cases “we would not have seen 10 or 15 years ago” due to an addiction to online pornography.

Edinburgh 13  Gloucester 19

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival got into full swing last night on a weekend which will see almost 1,000 musicians from 18 countries performing in various venues around the city.

Yes, there is such a thing as the UK Twerking Championships.

Tracks ****

Nicollette Sheridan has been granted a new trial in her case for wrongful termination from 'Desperate Housewives'.

Gloucester 7 Munster 20

Connacht coach Pat Lam admits his side must put on a repeat performance next Saturday if they want to beat Heineken Cup rivals Toulouse for a second time in a week.

Munster 26 Gloucester 10

The vast majority of the 37% of children who are sexually abusing other children are not classic paedophiles but abuse due to neglect, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, and increasingly because of exposure to porn or an over-sexualised homeplace.

The boy band have teamed up with high street brand MUA to release a cosmetics line targeted at their teenage fans called "Little Things".

Bluebell United 1 Avondale United 4

A British councillor has resigned from the Conservative Party after making “thoughtless and extremely foolish” comments about immigrant school children.

Nicollette Sheridan was not wrongfully sacked from TV’s Desperate Housewives, a US appeals court has ruled.

Joe Schmidt gets his first chance today to run the rule over the Leinster fringe players who will steer him through the early stages of the RaboDirect Pro12 campaign when they meet Gloucester in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium (5pm).

The trial over Nicollette Sheridan's sacking from 'Desperate Housewives' featured one last twist with the disclosure of a mystery witness who has indicated show bosses tried to cover up correspondence related to the actress.

Nicollette Sheridan told a court she was stunned after being struck by the creator of 'Desperate Housewives' on the set of the ABC show.

Harlequins 20 Gloucester 14

Connacht 10 Gloucester 14

Toulouse 21 Gloucester 17

Nicollette Sheridan will only be entitled to limited damages if she wins her court battle against the creators of 'Desperate Housewives'.

Ireland U-20s 30 Scotland U-20s 13,

Avondale United1 Cherry Orchard 0 (after extra-time)

GLOUCESTER romped to an emphatic 60-7 victory over Agen but it was not enough to keep their Amlin Challenge Cup hopes alive.

US rap star Ja Rule today agreed to go to prison for two years in a gun case, becoming the second platinum-selling rapper set to do time after arrests in the aftermath of a star-studded hip-hop concert in July 2007.

Nicollette Sheridan has been granted permission to sue the creator of ‘Desperate Housewives’.

A WELL-TAKEN Davin O’Neill goal was enough to give Cork City victory in this FAI Ford Cup third-round replay but the First Division team were pushed all the way in Bray by a Bluebell United side who did the Leinster Senior League proud with a classy performance which deserved more than the pain of cup defeat.

Nicolette Sheridan was slapped by producer Marc Cherry as he showed her how to stage a scene, according to a 'Desperate Housewives' insider.

NICOLLETTE Sheridan, the actress who played a divorced estate agent in ABC’s TV series Desperate Housewives, has filed a lawsuit against the show’s creator and producer alleging assault and wrongful termination.

Actress Nicollette Sheridan of hit show 'Desperate Housewives' has filed a lawsuit against the show's creator and producer alleging assault and wrongful termination.

Nicollette Sheridan, the actress who played a divorced estate agent in 'Desperate Housewives', has filed a lawsuit against the show’s creator and producer alleging assault and wrongful termination.

Gloucester 19 Glasgow Warriors 6

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen presented a collection of Jack Lynch memorabilia to the people of Cork yesterday.

THERE was a “systematic failure” in the treatment of a schizophrenic who was allowed to live as an outpatient and went on to murder a friend and eat parts of his brain, a report found yesterday.

Nicollette Sheridan said her Desperate Housewives character was marked for death by something more dangerous than her deranged husband – the show’s creator.

Biarritz 24 Gloucester 10

A contract worker for a US sheriff’s department is accused of drink driving on the way to a jail to test a suspect’s blood alcohol content.

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are desperately trying for their first baby - and have promised to break their happy news to 'Desperate Housewives' creator Marc Cherry first.

Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry has set a deadline for the hit show to come to an end - insisting the programme will definitely finish in 2011.

SIBLING sexual abuse is more common than sexual abuse by a parent, according to the director of a treatment programme for young abusers.