Priest’s plea for help in Hanley murder

THE priest officiating at the funeral mass yesterday of elderly horse trader Christy Hanley, who was tied up and beaten to death in his Co Westmeath home, appealed to the public to aid the murder investigation.

Hundreds of mourners attended the mass at St James’ Church in Kilbeggan.

The 83-year-old was discovered at his home in Kilbeggan at around 10am last Thursday following an anonymous telephone call to gardaí. The elderly horse trader, who ran a roulette wheel stall at race meetings and town fairs around the country, had been brutally beaten to death.