A man has been jailed after he dragged his uncle’s lifeless body into a post office to try and collect his pension.
Declan Haughney, 41, of Pollerton Road in Carlow, Ireland, was sentenced to two years in jail after he and Gareth Coakley, 38, both pleaded guilty to the grim caper.
The court heard how the pair took the ‘lifeless’ body of Peadar Doyle, 66, to try and collect his pension – Mr Doyle was subsequently discovered to be dead inside the post office.
Haughney and Coakley, of John Sweeney Park in Carlow, found themselves in the dock last week facing charges of attempted deception in relation to a €246 pension belonging to Mr Doyle.
At the sentencing hearing at Carlow Circuit Court, Judge Eugene O’Kelly sentenced Mr Haughney to two and a half years with the final six months suspended – and Mr Coakley to two behind bars with the final six months suspended, Dublin Live reports.
The shocking incident, in which Mr Doyle – who is Mr Haughney’s uncle, was discovered to be deceased, occurred at Hosey’s Post Office on the Staplestown Road in Carlow on January 21 last year.
The court heard how Haughney and Coakley dragged a visibly lifeless Peadar through the streets and falsely claimed they had called an ambulance before they became aggressive towards post office staff.
The court was also shown a horrifying image of a deceased Peadar Doyle lying on the ground of the post office shortly after he was officially declared dead.
Shocking CCTV footage was shown in court of Haughney and Coakley dragging what was described by a witness as a lifeless and ‘grey coloured’ Mr Doyle along the street and into the post office.
Mr Doyle’s legs are clearly seen dangling against the ground as the two men carry him under their arms and drag him to the front counter.
Stunned members of the public gather to express concern – with one woman on the phone to emergency services as the pair skip the queue and drag Mr Doyle to the front counter where they demand the elderly man’s pension be handed over.
Joe O’Keeffe of Carlow Garda Station said he received a call at 11:15am on the radio reporting that a man was being ‘dragged along Bridge Street’ into Hosey’s Post Office on the Staplestown Road.
Garda O’Keeffe tried to perform CPR on the ‘grey coloured’ and ‘lifeless’ Mr Doyle on arrival but to no avail.
Gda O’Keeffe said that Declan Haugney came to him in the post office and told him that the man on the ground was his uncle and claimed that he had brought him down to collect his pension ‘as he had been feeling unwell’ and that he collapsed at the counter.
He then spoke to a Ms Knight who told him she was driving down Pollerton Road when she saw two men dragging Mr Doyle and she ‘knew something wasn’t right.’
The court heard that when Ms Knight saw the elderly man’s face ‘she said she thought he was dead.’
Ms Knight pulled over and asked the men ‘Is he alright lads’ to which Mr Haughney told her he was fine and Mr Coakley informed her that they had already called an ambulance.
The court heard that in fact, no ambulance had been called by either man at this point.
Ms Knight followed them into Hoseys Post Office – where CCTV showed them dragging Mr Doyle, carrying him under their arms right up to the front desk as shocked onlookers moved out of the way.
Haughney and Coakley had initially placed Mr Doyle slumped against a door but his body slumped to the ground as the pair argued with post office staff who refused to hand over his pension.
After 40 minutes of CPR and the attendance of advanced paramedical staff, Peadar Doyle was officially declared dead at 12:40pm by a doctor.
The court heard how ‘rigour mortis had set in by that time.’
Mr Justice Eugene O’Kelly noted the duo’s ‘callous disregard for the dignity and welfare of a dying man,’ in that they ‘refused an offer’ for a call to help and ‘literally abandoned him on the floor of the post office.’
‘They were the ones who removed him from his home. He may have died peacefully in his bed.’
He added: ‘No person should have to die in those circumstances.
He added that ‘extraordinary public interest’ had been generated by the story, which in turn made things harder for his family.
Peadar Doyle’s sister Noeleen Dowling, who is the aunt of Haughney, said in a victim statement that he was ‘reduced to a macabre spectacle and his dignity was taken away from him’.
A trial due to start this week was cancelled when the men decided to plead guilty at the last minute.
