‘Despicable act cut short a couple’s dreams’

Mourners at the memorial Mass for murdered Irish woman Jill Meagher were last night told the hopes and dreams she and her husband Tom had for their life in Australia were, “cut short by a despicable act one Friday night that has left us all numb”.

Speaking to a congregation of close to 1,000 people, Jill’s aunt Catherine McKeon-Halpin also said: “To our friends and the people of Drogheda, Australia, and especially Brunswick who marched in their thousands, you gave our families and me the courage to get through these past two weeks. May we offer you our sincere thanks.”

She spoke after the emotional Mass in St Peter’s Church, Drogheda, where Jill was baptised.