Irish man dies day after Australian court case that 'ruined' his life
An Irish man who said this week that a court case in Melbourne had ruined his life has been found dead.
Padraig Gaffney from Lanesborough, Co Longford, had pleaded guilty to criminal damage and was handed a $10,000 fine on Tuesday for setting off a fire hydrant in a hotel in April last year.
The Fraser Place Hotel was flooded and evacuated as a result of Mr Gaffney's actions which caused AUS$500,000 worth of damage.
The 29-year-old died yesterday, a day after his court appearance in Melbourne.
The judge in his case, Chief Judge Michael Rozenes said Gaffney was heavily intoxicated, but there was no malicious intent to damage the hotel, and it was just a stupid act that he would never have contemplated sober.
Gaffney had said: "This entire thing has ruined my life completely. I’ve spent 10 years in Australia trying to better myself and in the space of one night everything can be taken away from you.
"People who go out for the night and drink too much can ruin themselves completely."
Mr Gaffney, the youngest of six children, had moved to Queensland to work for the construction firm McNab.
