Priest Child Abuser Has Sentence Reduced

A former priest who was convicted of sexually abusing over a dozen boys throughout a 16-year period has had his jail sentence reduced.

62-year-old Daniel Curran’s jail term was reduced by the Court of Appeal from four to three years.

The decision was made as a result of Curran’s guilty pleas, his remorse and the consequences of multiple sentencing exercises.

Curran, of Bryansford Road, Newcastle, was jailed in 2012 on five counts of indecent assault.

The two victims were abused at the former priest’s holiday home near Tyrella, County Down during the late eighties and early nineties.

The abuse was part of a long-running campaign of abuse on young boys between 1977 and 1993, during which time Curran was a priest in Belfast.

He had taken his victims away from the city to his holiday home, under the pretence of a holiday to escape the violence of the Troubles.

He gave the boys alcohol and sexually abused them.

Curran’s lawyers appealed the four year term on the basis that the judge should have considered previous sentencing and the lack of any further offending.

Woman Punched And Robbed

A woman has been punched and robbed in Belfast

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the woman was walking along East Bridge Street at about 16:30.

A man approached her, punched her on the ear and stole her mobile phone.

The victim suffered minor injuries.

De-Icing Thiefs Arrested

Three men have been arrested as part of a PSNI investigation into car thefts which occurred when the vehicles’ owners were de-icing the windows.

Five cars were stolen in Belfast within the space of 90 minutes yesterday, when the owners left keys in the ignition while the engines were running.

The cars were stolen in a number of areas including Orangefield, Lisburn Road, Ravenhill Road/Rosetta and Antrim Road.

Three men in their twenties were arrested in the Dunmurry area.

Police have described the habit of leaving engines running while de-icing cars in the morning as a "gift" to thieves.

NI Young Scientists In Dublin Exhibition

Northern Ireland’s young scientists have been taking part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2013.

The event took place today at the RDS in Dublin. Over 1,800 entries were received from more than 350 schools across Ireland, with 550 projects making it to the finals.

These included 33 projects from 14 schools in Northern Ireland.

Education Minister John O’Dowd visited the event. He said: "The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition offers young people a fantastic, hands-on way to get involved with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) – those subjects that form the basis of any such economy. By being able to create their own investigative projects, young people can examine issues that they best relate to and which they feel most passionate about, while applying and boosting their scientific learning."

The Minister added: "My congratulations go to all the young people and their teachers who have worked so hard on their projects over many months. I would also like thank the organisers and main sponsors BT for their continued commitment to this excellent event."

(IT)