Man gets seven years for airport rampage

A Cork man was jailed for seven years yesterday after a “manic explosion” saw him hijack a jeep by attacking a garda with a knife, smash the jeep through a fence at Cork Airport, hijack another jeep and drive it at two planes full of passengers.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin imposed a total of 12 years on Edmund Stapleton, suspended the last five years of that, and banned him from driving for 20 years.

The case went to trial earlier this month on the central issue of whether he was high on drugs or not guilty by reason of insanity. A jury convicted him on all 12 charges last Friday.