A man facing jail for a string of road traffic offences offered his status as a wheelchair-user as mitigation — only for the judge to claim he had seen the same man walking towards him just a few months previously.

THE COUSANE Gap, under the Sheehy Mountains`, is one of the quieter backwaters in West Cork, yet it’s within a 10-mile radius of Bantry town and a little more from Glengarriff. In commuting terms, the drive to Cork Airport is not too arduous, less than an hour in good conditions, which is why this area has a number of seasonal residents.