The number of cases dealt with by the District Court increased by 10% last year. Of the thousands of cases each year, many are passed onto higher courts such as the Circuit Court or in the case of murder or rape, the Central Criminal Court.

New childcare regulations come into force today, which will reduce the number of children a childminder can care for. The Childcare Pre-School Services Regulations were signed into law in 2006, but only take effect from today.

A 92-year-old man suffered a heart attack and died after a doctor gave him a drugs overdose, an inquest has heard. Walter Kenneth Johnston was injected with 100 times the correct dose of insulin by a junior doctor at Belfast City Hospital who claimed he did not know how to treat him.

A leading charity has called on the NI Assembly to press ahead with a bill to make age discrimination illegal. New research for leading charity Age Concern suggests that more than 250,000 older people in Northern Ireland think ageism should be banned.

More than 30 patients have been turned away from Northern Ireland’s cancer centre without receiving treatment. The City Hospital in Belfast has admitted that 34 patients awaiting chemotherapy had missed out on treatment since the start of April.

With the Stormont Assembly preparing to resume next week after a summer recess, Dr Kieran Deeny has outlined his immediate intention to address the “healthcare geographical discrimination” in the North.

A study has found that children as young as six have tried to take their own lives. The details of the study will be presented at a conference in Killarney, Co Kerry.

More resources need to be put into mental health services for new mothers and pregnant women, University of Ulster researchers will tell an international conference on suicide prevention today.

The man suspected of shooting his wife before turning the gun on himself at their home near Newry was a respected youth co-ordinator.

An Ulster charity worker is accused of storing more than 23,000 images of child sex abuse on his computer. Londonderry man John Llewelyn James (39) is now at the centre of one of the biggest alleged cases of child pornography ever uncovered in Northern Ireland.