‘CALLOUS’ | 

Nephew who dragged uncle’s dead body to Carlow post office to claim pension jailed

A witness described seeing two men “dragging” Mr Doyle’s body towards Hosey’s post office and stopped her car to ask if they wanted assistance

Today at 15:35

A man who “dragged” his uncle’s “lifeless” body to a post office in an attempt to collect his €246 pension has been jailed for two years.

Declan Haughney was handed down a two-and-a-half year sentence with the final six months suspended.

His co-accused Gareth Coakley, who was also involved in the incident, was given two years with the final six months suspended.

A witness described seeing two men “dragging” Mr Doyle’s body towards Hosey’s post office on the Staplestown Road in Co Carlow and stopped her car to ask if they wanted assistance. She said he was “lifeless”, his eyes were fixed and his face was “grey”.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly said: “There was a callous disregard for the welfare of a dying man.”

Haughney (41), of Pollerton Road, Carlow and his co-accused Coakley (37), of John Sweeney Park, pleaded guilty to attempted deception at Hosey’s Post Office, Staplestown Road, Carlow, on January 21, 2022.

Haughney was alleged to have brought the body of his late uncle Peadar Doyle inside the post office in a bid to collect his €246 pension.

Coakley was also present during the incident.

The pair were charged with attempting to steal Mr Doyle’s €246 pension.

They also faced a charge of attempting to deceive a staff member at the post office during the incident.

They were due to stand trial at Carlow Circuit Court this week after initially denying the charges, but they changed their plea on the deception charge to not guilty before it got underway, resulting in the jury being dismissed.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly noted that the crime had occurred in “somewhat bizarre circumstances” when “a deceased gentleman was taken out from the post office”.

A victim impact statement was read on behalf of Mr Doyle’s family at the sentencing hearing.

After initially pleading not guilty to all charges, they were rearraigned on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to the deception charge.

Judge O’Kelly said the case attracted a lot of public interest after a “deceased gentleman was taken out from the post office”.

Mr Doyle was discovered dead inside Hosey’s post office on January 21 last year. A post mortem showed he had died suddenly of natural causes. Counsel for Coakley said his client was unhappy with the level of publicity the case had generated. Judge O’Kelly said the defendants “couldn’t complain too much about the publicity” after interviews had been given by both to the media. On the face of it, he said it appears as a “simple deception charge” in relation to one week’s pension. However, he said the matter was very much “an indictable offence”.