A 64-year-old man getting the last bus home from town was accosted by three women who demanded money and went through his pockets to rob him, and yesterday one of the culprits was jailed for eight months.

The mother of an eight-year-old schoolgirl who was snatched from Moate told today how her daughter escaped from her abductor and hid as he hunted her down.

Gardai are trying to establish the motive behind the abduction of an eight-year-old schoolgirl near Moate, Co Westmeath, earlier today.