A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Woman used child for begging
A woman who used a child for begging has been fined €150. Judge James McDonnell said that he considered the offence “a form of child abuse”. He told Tallaght District Court that the Romanian woman would face a jail sentence if it were available for the offence.
The woman, aged 25, with an address in Tallaght, had pleaded guilty to using a child for the purposes of begging at Butterfield Avenue in Rathfarnham on December 22th last year. She was before the court for a probation report.
The judge said: “This is her third conviction. If there was a sentence available to me, she would be facing it. It is not because of begging, it is because she used a child for begging. It is a form of child abuse.”
Emigration painting remains on home turf
A 19th-century painting of an Irish family on the eve of a daughter’s emigration to America has been saved from export to the United States and will remain in Ireland.
The Finishing Touch, by Cork-born artist James Brenan, went under the hammer at Whyte’s auction in Dublin this week with an estimate of €15,000-€20,000.
Ironically, it was on the verge of being sold to a telephone bidder in the US for €21,000 when an Irishman in the saleroom trumped this figure with a higher bid. The man, believed to be from Galway, bought the picture for €22,000.
Man caught by off-duty garda pleads guilty to post office robbery
An off-duty garda chased down and caught an armed robber who had run out in front of him as he was cycling home, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
John Byrne (42) received an eight year sentence after robbing a Ballsbridge post office with a sawn-off shotgun. He claimed he needed the money to pay for his mother’s funeral.
Byrne, of Connolly Lodge, Amiens Street, ran out into the street wearing a balaclava and straight into the path of Garda Alan Murphy who was cycling home at the end of his shift.
He pleaded guilty to robbery of Ballsbridge Post Office and possession of a shotgun and cartridge on July 21st, 2010.