A Polish woman attending Mass in Cork came to the assistance of an 80-year-old man who was attacked by a heroin addict smashing a collection box, it was claimed yesterday.

A homeless man accused of attempted robbery this week claimed yesterday he was only trying to get back €120 that had been robbed from him.

A thief who was tracked down by gardaí after he dropped his phone during a burglary at a retirement home for Presentation Brothers has been jailed for three years with the last year suspended.

A Parisian has pleaded guilty to assaulting a French colleague, grabbing her around the throat, in a bedroom, on the night of her farewell party in Cork.

A detective garda couldn’t believe it when he saw a man rolling a pram down the street with one hand and pushing a heavy industrial road cutting machine with the other.

A Corkman aged 43 was arrested at Cork Airport and charged with carrying out an armed robbery almost 19 years ago at Bandon Rd post office.

A counterfeit Apple iPhone charger bought from a small shop in Cork exploded in the socket shortly after it was plugged in to charge the phone and yesterday the man who sold it was fined €1,000 for breaches of the Trade Marks Act.

The homeless man whose body was found in the rubbish chute of an apartment block suffered no fatal injuries beforehand and died as a result of asphyxia and lack of oxygen, a pathologist has said.

A former manager of Boylesports bookmakers at Castle St in Cork stole almost €600,000 from the shop and gambled most of it through Paddy Power’s website.

Gardaí arrested the former manager of a Cork City bookmakers office yesterday and charged him with stealing almost €600,000 from his employer over a period of 21 months.

A Cork woman living in London who flew home for one day every month to sign on for jobseeker’s allowance was given a three-year suspended jail sentence yesterday.

A Corkwoman living in London who flew home once a month to sign on for jobseekers’ allowance and then returned to the UK defrauded the State of €43,000.

Improved journey times on the M8 motorway have seen Dublin gangs targeting Cork for burglaries, it was claimed yesterday, as three men were jailed for attempted burglary.