Traveller widow gets €20k for ‘bringing body back in van’ libel

A judge has awarded a grieving Traveller widow and her two brothers €30,000 in libel damages over a newspaper story which claimed efforts were made to bring home, from Germany, the woman’s late husband’s remains in the back of a van.

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Judge James O’Donohoe awarded €20,000 in libel damages to Kathleen Hegarty, widow of the late Patrick Hegarty, 37, and €5,000 each to her brothers, James and Dan Quilligan.

The three brought libel actions against the Sunday World Ltd, concerning an article on May 1, 2011, accompanied by a headline: “Dead Man’s Body Sparked German Traveller Riot” with a sub-heading “Rathkealers try to transport deceased pal back home after boozing tragedy’.