In Short

A round up of today's other legal stories in brief

A round up of today's other legal stories in brief

Woman loses animal cruelty case appeal

A woman has lost her High Court challenge to the manner in which she was convicted of cruelty to animals.

Donna Sfar, of Oaklawns, Dundalk, was fined €6,000 and prohibited from keeping animals for 10 years by Judge Flann Brennan at Dundalk District Court last February after the judge heard that 17 dogs were living "in absolute filth" with no apparent supplies of food or water.

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Ms Sfar had denied the charges which related to animals she had kept at Balriggan, Kilcurry, Dundalk, in March 2007.

Inquest date to be set later

An inquest into the death of a man who was found unresponsive in Garda custody will be further mentioned next month before a date is set for its full hearing, due to the large volume of draft depositions to be considered by legal teams, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Dwayne Foster (24) of Woodbank Avenue, Finglas, Dublin 11 was found unresponsive in Garda custody at Coolock Garda station on March 7th, 2006.

Mr Foster was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Dr Michael Curtis, who carried out a postmortem on the body of Mr Foster, recorded the cause of death as methadone intoxication.

Mr Foster was one of a number of people being questioned about the murder of mother-of-one Donna Cleary (22), from Coolock, at the time of his death.

Two teenagers admit assault

Two Kinsealy teenagers have been remanded in custody pending sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for an unprovoked attack on a man who attempted to break up a group of youths fighting on their debs night.

Philip Ahern (18), and Stephen Cahill (19), offered €21,000 to their victim, who lost eight teeth and required plastic surgery, as compensation, but he turned their offer down.

Ahern, Mount Drinan Crescent, Kinsealy Downs, and Cahill, Ashdale Close, Kinsealy Court, pleaded guilty to assaulting Michael Tyndall, causing him harm at Kinsealy Shopping Centre on October 3rd, 2006.

Farmer sues contractor

A farmer has claimed before the High Court that lands valued at €400,000 are now worth nothing and could cost €1 million to restore because a contractor had deposited low-quality subsoil on them.

Oliver McCoy and his wife Carmel, of Drumtuck, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, have sued Jons Moneley Venture Limited, of Duleek, Co Meath arising from an alleged agreement to land fill part of their farm from works on the adjacent N2 near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.

John O'Donnell SC, for Mr McCoy, said his client entered an agreement that the defendant could deposit subsoil from the road works on low lying areas of the lands.

Counsel said the defence denied there was anything wrong with the land or that any restoration works were required.

The hearing continues.

Stole €11,300 for her boyfriend

A Wicklow woman who stole €11,300 from her employers for her boyfriend because she did not want him to break up with her, has had her sentence adjourned at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Her boyfriend, who later entered her employer's premises and damaged the locks to make it look like the theft was a break-in, will also be sentenced on a later date.

Wayne Power (32), of Rathsallagh Drive, Shankill, Dublin and Rebecca Daly (26), of Charlesland Court, Greystones both pleaded guilty to the theft at Q-Park car park in Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Dún Laoghaire on September 30th, 2007.