A man jailed for biting another man’s ear off in the smoking area of a pub, following a “very minor altercation”, has lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence.

Two men have been found not guilty of IRA membership following a Special Criminal Court trial in which an FBI agent uncovered a Dublin-based plot to buy a grenade and Semtex online.

A Brazilian man who left a woman severely injured in a laneway after raping and assaulting her has been jailed for 13 years.