[imagesource: Colin Keegan / Collins Dublin]

Yesterday, we told you about a highly unusual pension claim story coming out of County Carlow, Ireland.

Irish police were investigating reports that two men carried a dead body into an Irish post office in an apparent attempt to claim his pension.

In what is strikingly similar to some of the more iconic scenes from 1989’s Weekend at Bernie’s, 66-year-old Peadar Doyle was “propped up” on either side by the men as they entered the building.

Here’s where things take a dramatic turn. One of those men, Doyle’s nephew, has gone on the record as saying he didn’t realise his uncle was dead.

Declan Haughney spoke with The Irish Mirror and stated that he wasn’t trying anything sinister:

Declan, 40, who says he’s lived with his uncle all his life, claimed he’s now “the talk of the town” and is being branded a “murderer”…

But he insisted he’s “not an eejit” – and believes he’s being accused of dragging his dead uncle into a post office to rob his pension – because he previously stole from his aunt.

He said: “Why would I want to rob my uncle? I’m 40 years of age yeah, I’m not a child, I’m not a young fella. I’m not an eejit to walk into Hoseys with a dead man and collect his money. Am I cuckoo? Am I cuckoo? I’m not.”

‘Eejit’ is Irish for ‘idiot’ in case you were a little lost.

Declan served two years behind bars for that fraud related to his aunt but swears his criminal days are behind him.

As for why he helped carry his dead uncle’s body to the post office:

Declan says he believes Peadar may have been dead by the time he and another male got him under the bridge at Pollerton Road, which is less than a two-minute walk from his home – but the pair continued to bring him to the post office by linking arms with him and dragging him there.

Image: Mick O’Neill / The Irish Mirror

He added: “So we linked him from here to there. He was walking like normal and then I reckon he died.

“This is no word of a lie, he started dragging his heels from you see the yellow sign that’s there? But we didn’t even think of it as anything. We were grand like then all of a sudden he started going all slumpy.”

He added that the slumping didn’t seem unusual because Peadar “had had heart attacks and all”.

You might have recognised that the chap above and the chap right up the top carrying that coffin are one and the same.

Declan was indeed present at the funeral and helped carry Peadar’s coffin. This via Extra Ireland:

Declan, who insists he had no clue of Peadar’s passing prior to the event, was among mourners of the 66-year-old at the Church of the Holy Family, Askea…

[He] sported a black eye and a number of facial injuries as he lifted his uncle’s coffin.

…a postmortem has already been carried out, with local Gardai [police] ruling out foul play.

Foul play may have been ruled out but that still doesn’t explain why Declan and the other man involved fled the scene once a staff member at the post office raised suspicions.

Declan has not been arrested and voluntarily participated in the police’s investigation.

[sources:irishmirror&extraireland]