A woman left permanently disabled after slipping on grapes while shopping in a Tesco store has been awarded €1.4m damages by a High Court judge.

THE fatal shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara six years ago should never have happened.

THE fatal shooting of John Carthy by gardaí in Abbeylara “should never have happened”, the Barr Tribunal has found.

The family of John Carthy today said it was too early to decide on whether to take legal action against the state over his fatal shooting by gardai in Abbeylara in 2000.

A long-awaited report into the fatal shooting of John Carthy after an armed siege with gardaí over six years ago is to be made public today.

THE family of John Carthy, the young man shot dead by gardaí after a siege at his home, will today learn the conclusions of the tribunal of inquiry into his death.

THE inevitable focus on garda procedure that will follow the tragic events in Carlow will intensify later this month if, as expected, the Barr report is published.

Legal representatives of the gardaí involved in the Abbeylara siege are expected to return to the Barr Tribunal next week, after a ruling made yesterday by the chairman of the inquiry.

GARDAÍ will wait to hear Justice Robert Barr’s opening statement this morning before deciding whether to return to the tribunal.

A legal representative for the gardaí involved in the shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara four years ago has requested a further day to consider an ultimatum issued to his clients yesterday by the chairman of the Barr Tribunal.

The President of the Barr Tribunal, into the Abbeylara siege, says proceedings will continue at the inquiry tomorrow morning whether the gardaí like it or not.

GARDAÍ involved in the Abbeylara siege are threatening to walk out on the Barr Tribunal when it resumes this morning unless chairman, Justice Robert Barr, makes a peace offering to their senior counsel, John Rogers, who quit the hearings in protest last month.

THE chairman of the Barr Tribunal was accused yesterday of drawing conclusions on aspects of the Abbeylara siege before hearing all the relevant evidence.

The Chairman of the Barr Tribunal says the Gardai could have given John Carthy the cigarettes he requested if they wanted to, during the siege at Abbeylara that saw Carthy lose his life.

THE garda who authorised John Carthy’s detention for questioning over an arson incident did so without knowing in any detail what the grounds for detaining him were.

A psychiatrist has criticised the gardai for using cigarettes as a negotiating tool during the armed siege that led to the killing of 27-year-old John Carthy in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000.

The Special Criminal Court will today pass sentence on the only man convicted in connection with the Omagh bomb, Louth man Colm Murphy.