TD Michael Healy-Rae’s two sons had denied they assaulted Kieran James after a row broke out in the queue outside a chip van in the centre of Kenmare town.

The court poor box into which defendants in Kerry could pay money to avoid convictions has been scrapped.

A District Court Judge has said the repercussions of a simple conviction could be felt 20 years later - as a current incident in the US made clear.

A date has been set for the late night assault case involving the newly elected Kerry County Councillor Jackie Healy-Rae, who is alleged to have assaulted a 30-year-old English visitor to Kenmare, causing harm, in December 2017.

Almost €1.74 million has been paid out from the court poor box to various charities in 2018, according to figures released by the Courts Service.

A Kerry publican with strong GAA associations has been convicted of after-hours drinking on two separate occasions when gardaí found the front door of his pub wide open and live music playing.

Jackie Healy Rae, the son of Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae, has been charged with assaulting a 30-year-old English visitor on a Christmas break in Kenmare.

Children and an elderly man were in the sitting room of a house in Listowel town, Co Kerry, shortly after midnight last Saturday night/Sunday morning when two youths armed with various items including an axe smashed the sitting room windows and door into the room, the juvenile court was told today.

A judge has warned the public coming to court that mobile phones will be confiscated unless they are switched off in his court room.

A 30-year-old West Cork woman has been convicted of dangerous driving and disqualified for two years after admitting to overtaking a driving school car on “a blind bend” at 100km/h in a 50km zone in Killarney.

A 64-year-old woman failed yesterday in her appeal against public order convictions as the judge said he did not believe her version of events.

Judge Dorgan said: “He must think we are all awful eejits and we are not.”

A man has avoided a possible jail sentence in a case involving a dead cat, an attack on sheep, two bench warrants, and 11 dogs — three of which were apparently shot and one of which was poisoned.

A man has been convicted of being in possession of a rare drug which he told the court was “mostly used for spiritual or religious practice” in the Amazon jungle.

A 69-year-old woman had a flower pot knocked over on top of her leg by a younger neighbour who was having a noisy party next door, it was alleged yesterday at Cork District Court.

A 58-year-old man went to take off his trousers and underpants at the scene of a disturbance in Cork City when he shouted abuse at gardaí.

A young man kicked in the windscreen of his own car in an incident which a district judge said was reminiscent of a Fawlty Towers episode.

A burglar who targeted a retirement home for Presentation Brothers has indicated, through his solicitor, that he would be pleading guilty to the crime.

A blind woman accused of shouting expletives as children played nearby denied the charge and said that it was a member of An Garda Síochána who used foul language to her.

A mother has claimed her former partner only wants to use their toddler to get an Irish visa, a court heard today.

Secondary teachers have decided not to resume school strikes before the summer in their campaign for equal pay.

A man found near his upturned car on a rural road the morning after celebrating his birthday told gardaí he had been walking home and found it that way.

A man found near his upturned car on a rural road the morning after celebrating his birthday told gardaí he had been walking home and found it that way.

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of David Douglas, who was shot dead in Dublin earlier this year.

Referee Mark Clattenburg has been officially cleared over allegations he racially abused Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel and has described his ordeal, which saw him temporarily barred from officiating, as “truly frightening”.

The Football Association have decided referee Mark Clattenburg will not face disciplinary action over a complaint of an alleged racist comment directed towards Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, Press Association Sport understands.

A CORKMAN has been remanded on bail after being charged with the assault of a man who remains critically ill in hospital.

A jury was sent out to consider its verdicts today in the £250,000 (€315,000) fraud trial of Anne Darwin, the wife of the back-from-the-dead canoeist.

The best friend of Anne Darwin spoke today of how she was betrayed by the wife of the back-from-the-dead canoeist.

A motorist who is accused of dragging a senior member of An Garda Siochana along the side of his moving car creating a risk of death or serious injury over four years ago, was arrested in London today and extradited to Cork.

A TERRORIST cell allegedly linked to al-Qaida planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs and trains in a bombing campaign in Britain, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

The British army has known all along that Martin McGuinness did not open fire on soldiers on Bloody Sunday, it was claimed today.

Property magnate Nicholas van Hoogstraten was involved in a court battle over dealings with the retired businessman he is alleged to have had murdered by two hitmen, a court was told today.

The jury members in the Lord Archer perjury trial were today told to asked themselves if the millionaire novelist was a man ruled by ambition.