Family can fight loan liability for dead man

The family of a businessman who left a suicide note telling of his desperation at being pursued over an unpaid €31m bank debt can continue to plead his case that he was not personally liable for the money, the High Court has ruled.

Philip De Vere Hunt, aged 64, of Ardmayle House, Cashel, Co Tipperary, was found dead at his cattle mart property in Cashel on December 18, 2012, the day a case over the debt was due to be heard.

At his inquest, coroner Paul Morris said Mr De Vere Hunt’s dealings with Nama, which had taken over the €31m debt to AIB, had “brought him to the end of his tether”.