A judge yesterday spoke of the dilemma he faced in trying to ensure children from a troubled family received an education and whether jailing their mother was necessary to achieve this.

A judge quashed a conviction imposed on a former air hostess for failing to comply with a court order to leave her ex-boyfriend alone.

Two men in a stolen van driven by a 16-year-old girl at high speed tried to evade capture by a chasing Garda car by dumping a keg of beer, wooden crates, three bags of cement, a hammer, and two wooden planks in the path of the car.