A man (27) who deliberately drove a van at a motorcycle garda, while drunk, has been jailed for 12 years.

Garda Michael Twomey was catapaulted into the air during the incident at Rathduff on the N20 Cork to Mallow road in April.

John Paul O'Driscoll has been sentenced to two consecutive six year terms in prison, after being found guilty of endangerment.

Mr. O'Driscoll - from Fairhill in Cork, but with an address at the Simon Community - was also charged with dangerous driving and burglary.

Judge Sean Ó'Donnabháin said he had been willing to suspend the final two years of the sentence, until the accused man swore colourfully at him from the dock.

His co-accused - Damian Fitzgerald (26) of Inniscarra Road in Fairhill - was jailed for four years for allowing himself be carried in a stolen vehicle.

Garda Twomey suffered a number of injuries, including broken ribs and bruising to his liver and kidneys.