A MAN was jailed yesterday for 60 days for what his own solicitor acknowledged was a brutal assault on his estranged girlfriend and mother of his young child.

Limerick has a higher proportion of murders coming before the Central Criminal Court than all other counties except Dublin, a leading High Court judge said today.

A Co Clare man accused of murdering a young deaf man whose badly beaten body was found in a lonely boreen was today convicted of manslaughter.

A murder accused today denied that he took an active role in the robbery and murder of a young deaf man.

A man accused of murdering a young deaf man today denied he intended to rob and murder the victim but admitted assaulting him and searching his pocket.

A murder accused brought gardaí to a country lay-by where they discovered items taken from the body of a young deaf man who was beaten to death, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

A murder accused told gardai he "went along" with a plan to rob a young deaf man who was beaten to death in a lonely boreen near a Tipperary village in December 1998.

A Co Limerick man died after "irreversible and irrevocable" injuries to the brain caused by a heavy object, a murder trial jury heard today.

The family of a young deaf man whose skull was bashed in during an attempted robbery, today said "justice has been done" as his killer was jailed for life after being convicted of murder.

A murder trial jury in the case of a Limerick man accused of the murder of a young deaf man retired to a hotel overnight.

A murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court has retired to consider its verdict in the case of a Limerick man accused of the murder of a young deaf man.

The Central Criminal Court today adjourned the trial of a man accused of the murder of a 21-year-old deaf man in 1998 because the accused was unwell.

A man accused of murder has admitted being at the murder scene when a deaf young man was beaten to death but denied that he killed him.

A detective garda yesterday denied that a man accused of murder was offered a manslaughter deal in return for co-operating with gardai.

A man arrested in connection with the murder of a profoundly deaf young man began to cry while telling gardai he was "not a murderer", a garda witness has told the Central Criminal Court today.

A man accused of murdering a profoundly deaf young man told gardai that he repeatedly punched the victim but that he never intended to kill him, a garda witness told the Central Criminal Court today.

The trial continues today of a man accused of the murder of a profoundly deaf man in Newport, Co Tipperary.

A profoundly deaf young man who was found dead in a isolated country boreen died from multiple skull fractures, a murder trial jury heard today.

A deaf man who was found dead in a country laneway in 1998 had earlier made the "999 sign" with his finger after sustaining a beating, a murder trial jury heard today.

Three serious sex assault trials which were scheduled to start at the Central Criminal Court this week had to be adjourned because there were no judges available to take them.

A "profoundly deaf" young man was left for dead in an isolated country laneway after being badly beaten with a hatchet, a murder trial jury heard today.