Animal-cruelty convictions quashed

The Court of Criminal Appeal has quashed the convictions of two men convicted of cruelty to animals at a dog fight in Co Kildare in the first case of its kind in the history of the state.

Troy Jordan (aged 35), a car-dealer and horse-breeder, of Blackthorn Cottage, River Road, Allenwood South, Co Kildare, and David Deegan (aged 32), a car sales business owner, Maplewood Park, Springfield, Tallaght, Dublin, were convicted at Naas Circuit Court on July 13 last year of cruelly ill-treating two animals at a dog fight on October 31, 2003, at Brockagh, Robertstown, Naas, Co Kildare.