A man who headbutted a garda trying to arrest him for drunkenly driving into parked cars after a date with a woman he met online went wrong has been jailed for 21 months.

A teenager, who knocked a 63-year-old man from his bicycle, then viciously beat him leaving him permanently scarred, has been given an eight-month suspended sentence by Judge Bryan Smyth at the Dublin Children’s Court.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King faces a grilling from MPs today over his handling of the crisis at mortgage lender Northern Rock and the wider turmoil in financial markets.