'A callous disregard for the dignity and welfare of a dying man... they literally abandoned him on the post office floor'

FRIENDS JAILED OVER PENSION PAYMENT FRAUD WORTH €246 | Judge slams men for ‘traumatic’ events | Peadar targeted by nephew & accomplice | Sister says brother robbed of his ‘dignity’

- PAUL HEALY

A MAN who dragged his uncle’s “lifeless” body into a post office to try and take his pension has been jailed for two years. 

Declan Haughney, who has 55 previous convictions, was on bail for a theft offence when he and pal Gareth Coakley dragged Peadar Doyle to the building on the Staplestown Road, Carlow.

Their actions were a brazen attempt to claim his weekly pension of €246 on January 21 last year.

Mr Doyle, 66, who lived with Haughney on Pollerton Road, was declared dead in the post office.

CCTV footage showing the pair dragging him along the street and into the post office in front of shocked onlookers was shown in court.

The court would also hear evidence of how the witness who dialled 999 stated she believed Mr Doyle was dead before making it to Hosey’s Post Office.

This was after she saw his “lifeless” body being dragged by Haughney and Coakley and having seen his “fixed eyes” and “grey face”.

But when she confronted the pair Haughney claimed “he’s grand” while Coakley lied and said they had called an ambulance for him.

Haughney, 41, of Pollerton Road in Carlow was jailed yesterday for two and a half years with the final six months suspended. Coakley, 38, of John Sweeney Park was jailed for 18 months. The pair pleaded guilty to attempted deception in relation to the incident.

Carlow Circuit Court heard how the crime had created global headlines – a fact acknowledged by Judge Eugene O’Kelly yesterday.

The court heard Haughney and Coakley blatantly lied in claiming they called an ambulance for Mr Doyle.