€2k offer if witness withdrew statement

A brown envelope containing €2,000 cash was handed over to a man walking his dog in a woodland by another man who wanted a witness not to give evidence in a trial.

David Stanton, of 5 Church Rd, Ballinacurra, Co Cork, was arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, where he replied: “I am a guilty man.”

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said that, considering all the circumstances, a two-year suspended jail term was appropriate on a charge of attempting to obstruct the course of justice.