Charges against a couple, accused of lying to the Garda Síochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), were yesterday struck out by a judge who criticised some garda witnesses.

The independence of the Garda Ombudsman Commission has been called into question at an inquest in Limerick into the deaths of two men who were hit by a car driven by a garda who was going off duty late at night.

Two gardai lifted a teenager out of his bed and smacked his head against its frame after hitting him with batons, a court heard today.