Man was watching match as remains found in flat

Gardaí found a man watching a match on TV in an apartment that contained the rotting corpse of a missing person, an inquest heard.

At Clare Coroner’s Court yesterday, Detective Garda Kieran Gallagher recalled being “overwhelmed” by the smell at the flat that contained the remains of Frankie Hassett, 25, on Jul 3, 2011. He had been missing since Jun 14.

Det Garda Gallagher said they found Patrick Ballard watching a match on TV as they went to the shower area to find the remains of Mr Hassett under a plastic bin bag.