Man who took uncle's corpse to post office for pension 'didn't know he was dead'

Haughney is suffering from a black eye after being assaulted

The man who hoisted his uncle’s corpse to the local post office to collect his pension has claimed he “didn’t know he was dead” at the time. Declan Haughney, 40, claims he was not trying to rob his dead uncle, Peadar Doyle, 66, after he and another man carried the corpse to a nearby post office on Friday morning.

Read the initial story: Dead man ‘propped up by two other men in attempt to collect pension at post office’

Haughney claimed he’s now “the talk of the town” and has been dubbed a “murderer” by the local community, reports the Irish Mirror. He believes he is being accused of stealing his uncle’s pension because he previously stole from his aunt. He also insisted he’s “not an eejit.” [caption id="attachment_313188" align="alignnone" width="1274"]

They walked the deceased into the local post office/Via Google Maps[/caption] He explained: “Why would I want to rob my uncle? I’m 40 years of age yeah, I’m not a child, I’m not a young fella. I’m not an eejit to walk into Hoseys with a dead man and collect his money. Am I cuckoo? Am I cuckoo? I’m not.” Haughney told the Mirror that he is being accused of dragging the body to the post office due to his chequered past, which includes two years in prison. “That’s why they’re saying it, that’s why this is all coming up now – because I done it before,” he said. “A bank card came through the aunt’s door and I got the pin code and went down for fraud and that’s why this is all coming up." https://twitter.com/Healyhack/status/1485532137017257986 He added: “People know about that in the town you know. But that was 15 years ago. I’m off the gear three years and I’m doing well.” He believes that his uncle Doyle may have been dead by the time he had dragged him under the bridge at Pollerton Road - which is less than a two-minute walk from his home. Despite this, Haughney and his unnamed accomplice continued to take Doyle to collect his pension. Despite the man’s claim that his uncle was alive when he left the house, police believe that Doyle passed away three hours before being taken on the trip.