Thurles Information

A Templemore family, named as Jackie Costelloe, Neville Curley and Elizabeth Ann Curley-Poppe, have sued an international undertaker, named as the Spanish-based Memora Servicios Funerarios Internacionales; an English repatriation service, named as Rowland Brothers International Limited, located in Surrey, England; and a funeral home named as Grey’s funeral home, situated in Templemore Co. Tipperary, over alleged psychiatric injuries suffered, due to the mistaken delivery of a body, not their father, who died while holidaying in Spain.

Their late father, Mr Michael Curley aged 83 and a widower, sadly died unexpectedly of a heart attack, while on holidays in Lanzarote, back in February of 2016, the High Court has now heard.

Senior counsel, representing the family, has spoken of the circumstances his three clients experienced, arising out of the three named defendants’ negligence and breach of contract.
The defendants have each filed a full defence, denying all/any liability in this case.

Ms Costelloe was with her father at the time of his death in the Spanish resort and viewed his body over there. Mr Neville Curley flew out and attended at the Lanzarote funeral home, also observing his father’s body. Both parties then made arrangements for repatriating his body back to Ireland.

Mr Neville Curley went to visit the body at Grey’s Funeral Home, Templemore, Co. Tipperary and was informed that he should prepare himself for a shock, as his father did not look good and foreign embalming services were not as good as Irish ones. Mr Curley was shocked by the appearance of the body, as were his siblings when they later also attended at the funeral home.

Later that day Mr Neville Curley was summoned to return to the funeral home, following the discovery of a body tag on the deceased, which identified that the body received was that of a French citizen. The deceased bore no resemblance to the late Mr Curley. The body mistakenly received had jet black hair, with cuts to his face from shards of glass and had undergone an autopsy, which Mr Michael Curley had not.

The family had asked the undertaker, on three occasions, if he was sure that this was their father, to which the undertaker had responded that it was; based on the paperwork he had been provided with. They decided then that the coffin should be closed, without the body being dressed.

On recognising the error, this grave mistake was quickly rectified, thus enabling the late Mr Curley’s funeral to go ahead as was previously scheduled.

The case before Mr Justice Tony O’Connor will continue today.

A former resident of Croke Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary has avoided an eight month prison sentence, following an assault which occurred at an acute psychiatric unit, on 81 year old patient Mr Gearoid McHugh, leaving latter victim with a brain injury.

Thirty four year old, Mr Brendan McCormack appeared before Ennis Circuit Court, having previously pleaded guilty to the single charge of assault.

Mr Justice Francis Comerford, in sentencing, stated that he accepted that Mr McCormack was struggling from a psychotic episode, when he punched Mr McHugh, while in the acute psychiatric unit, at Ennis General Hospital, on April 24th, 2019 last.
Mr McCormack was only in the acute psychiatric unit some three hours previously, having been brought there by Gardaí as an involuntary admission, and prior to the assault taking place.

Mr McHugh with an address at Quin, Co Clare, was already extremely ill, prior to the assault and sadly passed away almost 5 weeks later, on May 28th, 2019.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Comerford stated that it had not been established that there was any acceleration brought about leading to the death of Mr McHugh, as a result of the single blow from Mr McCormack.

Judge Comerford, however, did imposed an eight month suspended prison term on Mr McCormack, with the condition that he remain under the care of his local mental health services and absent himself from the continuous use of both illegal drugs and alcohol.

In terms of mitigation Judge Comerford stated that there was no premeditation, no weapon and it was a single blow.