BALLYMENA: A 66-year-old former mental health nurse from Ballymoney, convicted of ill-treating a vulnerable patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in 2017, was handed a five-month prison sentence suspended for two years. District Judge Nigel Broderick cited her clear record and significant delay in the case coming to court as mitigating factors.

LISBURN: A 24-year-old Belfast man with no fixed abode has been sent for trial at Craigavon Crown Court on charges of common assault and non-fatal strangulation, both aggravated by domestic abuse and alleged to have occurred on 7 September last year. He was remanded in custody with arraignment scheduled for 5 May.