A former Garda sergeant attempted to pay prostitutes to get children as young as five for sex a year after he had been released for a similar offence, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Kildare man Kieran O'Halloran has admitted that on a date in October 2005 he incited a woman "to organise or knowingly facilitate the use of a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation".

A convicted robber who snatched a handbag from a 75-year-old woman going to mass has been given a four year prison sentence.