A fourth Longford man has been declared not guilty of violent disorder at the trial arising out of an ambush by an armed group on a wedding party and the shooting of two passengers in a car.

Charges alleging two Longford men were part of an armed group who ambushed a wedding party and shot two passengers have been withdrawn from a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A Westmeath man who raped a woman in a Longford pub carpark after a heavy drinking bout combined with 'ecstasy' and cannabis has been jailed for six years by Mr Justice Paul Carney.

A Westmeath man is to be sentenced in July for raping a woman in a pub carpark last year.

A garda who was prosecuted for obtaining false loss of earning certificates for a witness in a prosecution against the McBreartys did not consider it a big sin when he did it, a solicitor said today.

A DETECTIVE at the centre of a probe into corruption in the gardaí yesterday succeeded in blocking a garda disciplinary inquiry into alleged misconduct four years ago.