Scottish addict jailed for two years and banned from re-entering Ireland for seven years

A former Scottish cocaine addict who punched a DART commuter has been given a two-and-a-half-year sentence and banned from re-entering Ireland for a further seven years after his release.

John Merrifield (aged 34), originally from Scotland but with a recent address in Pulton Street, London, was tracked down in a UK prison earlier this year, having left Ireland a few months after assaulting Mr Kevin Cleary on June 7, 2002 at Tara Street Dart Station. He had 14 previous assault convictions,