Other News In Brief

Woman Convicted OF Benefit Fraud

A woman has been convicted for claiming benefits she was not entitled to at Belfast Crown Court.

Natalie Lynas (46) of New Barnsley Crescent, Belfast claimed Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £30,056 while failing to declare employment. She was given a three month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

She is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

Youth Worker Hits Out Over Sale And Abuse Of Prescription Drugs

A youth worker said the sale and abuse of prescription drugs has been afflicting communities across Northern Ireland for "far too long".

SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath made the comments after the PSNI confirmed over 10,000 fake diazepam tablets are shipped into communities across the North every week.

He said: "The sale and abuse of prescription drugs is a pandemic that has been afflicting communities across the North for far too long. Predatory dealers are preying on vulnerable young people who end up taking a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol, leaving their families and their community heartbroken.

"Barely a month goes by when we aren’t mourning the loss of a young person full of life and with a bright future ahead of them because of the insidious effect of these drugs and those who deal in them.

"This is a very serious concern for communities across Northern Ireland where fake prescription drugs are flooding in every weekend, fuelling anti-social behaviour, burglaries and other low level, but high personal impact, crimes.

"Questions will rightly be asked of the police and the criminal justice system which has failed to get to grips with the scale of the situation. There are concerned people in communities blighted by drug abuse who are bringing information to the police and are then frustrated when it isn’t dealt with as a priority. Or when drug dealers are arrested and processed by the courts only to be released within a few weeks or a few months. We have communities gripped by fear and they see no lasting deterrent to those taking part in this criminality."

Date Set For Kingsmill Inquest

Newry and Armagh Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy has welcomed the setting of a date for the inquest into the murders of 10 Protestant workmen by the Provisional IRA in South Armagh in 1976.

The inquest is to begin on 23 May.

Mr Kennedy said: "I welcome that after 40 long years a date has finally been set for the inquest into the Kingsmills massacre. As someone who lives in Bessbrook and who has campaigned alongside the victims' families for many years, I know how frustrating this process has been.

"I pay tribute to the families of the victims, the sole survivor Alan Black and all those who have campaigned for justice in this case. I hope that the inquest makes available the maximum amount of information on what was one of the most horrendous acts of sectarian terrorism carried out by the Provisional IRA during its campaign of violence."

(CD)