A couple were found guilty today of inflicting years of brutal cruelty and humiliation on seven children which only ended with the suspected suicide of one of their victims.

An ex-soldier who claimed he was driven to the brink of suicide because of anti-Catholic abuse while serving with the Royal Irish Regiment is to seek compensation from the British Ministry of Defence, it was revealed today.

A legal challenge to abortion regulations in Northern Ireland is really a ‘‘radical’’ bid to have British law on termination rights extended to the province, a court heard today.