Irishman and wife shot dead in South Africa

AN Irish man and his wife who lived in South Africa are believed to have been shot dead by the woman’s father, who later admitted to a friend that “he had made a mess”.

Kevin McGuirk, 53, originally from Dublin, who had lived in South Africa for several years, was found dead beside his South African-born wife, Kim McGuirk, in their home in Alberton on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Tuesday.

According to South African police, the woman’s father, Edwin Topping, 75, who lived with the couple, shot them with a legally held firearm after a row on Monday night. A police official said Mr Topping admitted that he had made a mess in a telephone call to a friend the following day, who then alerted the police.