Gardaí believe man already dead when taken to Carlow post office

Gardaí believe pensioner Peader Doyle (66) was already dead when he was taken into a post office in Carlow town by two men to claim his pension.

Sources told The Irish Times the results of the investigation to date show the pensioner did not die suddenly at Hosey’s shop and post office on Staplestown Road at 11am last Friday.

The Garda investigation has also unearthed evidence proving Mr Doyle was alive earlier that morning rather than being dead for many hours, or even days, before the bizarre incident.

A postmortem has determined there was no foul play but was only able to estimate the time of death as some time on Friday morning.

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It is not yet clear if the retired painter died in his home on Pollerton Road, about 500m from the post office, and was already dead when taken from the house.

“We are looking at things like witness statements and CCTV footage to see what condition Peader [Doyle] was in as he was being taken from the house to the post office,” said one source.

The two men who took Mr Doyle to the post office are both in their 30s and were known to the dead man. They have been interviewed by gardaí. One told gardaí the pensioner was alive when they left his home and that he was conversing and earlier had a drink.

Garda sources said the case was very unusual, adding a number of charges may arise from it. These include failing to notify the authorities of a death or attempting to fraudulently obtain a dead person’s pension payment.

Mr Doyle’s funeral is due to take place on Monday at the Church of the Holy Family, Askea, Carlow town.