A middle-aged man struck a woman in an unprovoked attack and then continued the assault as she lay on the ground in a crime which the sentencing judge described as despicable and cowardly.

A farmer protesting at Fermoy Mart about cattle with horns allegedly being sold to him caught a detective garda, pulled him in through the window of his truck and stabbed his hand with a metal object, it was claimed on the opening day of a trial yesterday.

Paramedics dealing with a woman involved in self-harm at Coburg St, Cork City, had to contend with a man shouting at them, a court has heard.

A judge yesterday rejected a defence claim that a major Garda operation in Limerick in which gardaí posed as prostitutes was entrapment.

A teenage girl charged with prostitution has been ordered by a judge to stay away from a notorious red light district.