A 10-year old Co Clare girl phoned her mother to say “Daddy is on the floor and we can’t wake him up” after finding her father in an unresponsive state in a sitting room.

A judge yesterday imposed a three-year prison term on a woman who sparked a needless six-week long pursuit for a rapist around Shannon.

A senior Garda told a court that there was an organised element behind the theft of a woman’s inheritance in the post over two years ago.