A Dublin man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering his partner of 21 years, whom he kicked in the stomach with enough force to split her liver during a row over Valium.

TV music channels may bump and grind to the beat of bootie shaking, crotch grabbing and bosom thrusting day and night but it is the humble Irish step dance that stands accused of simulating sex.

ROBERT HOWARD was a loner. He’d been in trouble since his early teens. He was born in 1944, one of eight children reared in this tiny, country cottage at The Swan in Co Laois.