THE son of Evelyn Joel said he had seldom spoken to his mother in the months leading to her death.

A MAN who twice tried to have his estranged wife killed has asked the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) to have his seven-year sentence referred to the Supreme Court on grounds it raises an important point of law.

An examination carried out on a Zimbabwean woman who claims her friend raped her as her daughter slept in the same bed showed no signs of assault a trial has heard.

A 74 year-old Laois "devout Christian" who told a young female relative that if she revealed he was raping her the "shock would kill" her mother has been jailed for six years by Mr Justice Paul Carney.

A Co Laois man who raped a female over a four year period will be sentenced in March at the Central Criminal Court.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld the seven-year sentence imposed on a man who twice tried to have his estranged wife killed.

A 26-YEAR-OLD who drank 12 or 13 pints of cider said he head-butted 14-year-old Brian Rossiter, kicked him in the head and gave him an upper cut into the jaw, all because he made a comment about his brother.