A 17-year-old sustained slash wounds to his face and hands, requiring 100 stitches, after being viciously assaulted at his home by two men armed with a carpet knife and blades.

A traveller accused of murder told gardaí he was forced to drive the getaway car for two gunmen against his will, a jury at the Central Criminal Court heard today.

A traveller who was murdered in his bed during a dawn raid on his caravan by two men wearing balaclavas, died from two close-range gunshot wounds to his chest, a jury at the Central Criminal Court heard today.

The murder trial of a Galway traveller ground to a halt on its first day today when up to six garda witnesses failed to appear at the Central Criminal Court.