A Clare man accused of murdering a hackney driver with a hatchet cried in a garda interview as he admitted the killing and said he’d never "even hurt an animal" in his life, a court has been told.

BRITAIN’S Prison Service faced mounting criticism yesterday after claims that a major security lapse allowed an undercover journalist using bogus references to get a job guarding Soham murders suspect Ian Huntley.

The British Prison Service launched an investigation today into how an undercover journalist got a job as a warder at the top security jail where Soham murders suspect Ian Huntley is being held.