Charges against a man relating to possession of 5,000 ecstasy tablets were struck out yesterday, a move understood to be a result of a recent loophole which had temporarily decriminalised certain drugs.

GARDAÍ were last night hunting for a convicted paedophile who disappeared before the end of his trial yesterday.

A fifteen-year prison sentence was imposed today on a West Cork drug dealer who tried to hoodwink a jury into believing that the gardaí had set him up.

A YOUNG woman who fantasised about being the wife of a garda claimed the object of her fantasies had systematically raped and sexually assaulted her over five years, leading to the transfer of the garda to another area.

THE woman who abducted a baby boy at a Cork hospital was back in court yesterday after she fled from her residential treatment programme and ended up coming to the attention of gardaí in Cork city where she was causing a disturbance on the street.

Two gardaí were cleared today on a charge of assault causing harm to a teenager at a holding cell in Gurranabraher garda station in Cork.

A two-year jail sentence was imposed today on an out-of-control phone sex pest who made thousands of lewd and disturbing phone calls despite repeated warnings to stop.

A garda dealing with a late night drunken driver was almost killed when another drunk driver crashed into him at high speed almost killing him, and today the motorist was jailed for four years.

A 10-year jail sentence was imposed today on a drug dealer who was caught getting out of a taxi with a stash of cannabis resin.

THE leader of a gang who organised a savage attack on the former owner of two massage parlours and threatened him for money in the name of the IRA was jailed yesterday for five years.

The leader of a gang who organised a savage attack on the former owner of two massage parlours and threatened him for money in the name of the IRA was jailed today for five years.