Irishman dies day after Australian hotel damage fine

An Irishman who pleaded guilty earlier this week to causing almost €340,000 worth of damage to an Australian hotel has been found dead.

Padraig Gaffney, from Lanesborough in Co Longford, was fined A$10,000 (€6,800) in a Melbourne court on Tuesday over the incident in April 2013 at the Fraser Place Hotel, where he had been staying with his girlfriend.

The court was told that he woke up in his hotel room after a night out. He went out of the room and down an emergency exit to the eighth floor, where he set off a fire hydrant. The water flooded the floors below and guests had to be evacuated.