A young man lost his life over a foolish mistake

Ellie2008

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/tragedy-strikes-young-irishman-one-day-after-pleading-guilty-in-court-case-in-australia-30256946.html#comments

I'm heartbroken by this. I read some of the posts commenting on the original story yesterday which to say the least lacked empathy for a young man who made a foolish, drunken mistake. The judge acknowledged that his crime was committed without pre-meditation or malice of any kind. Why are we always so ready to pound our keyboards and rush to judge? Was it not enough that he had to live with the damage he'd caused without the "name and shame". My heart goes out to his poor parents.

frozenfrozen

Surely it's the hotels fault for having this hydrant capable of causing 500,000 worth of damage, out in the open around the bar/where people who have been drinking in the hotel can easily get to? Now I'm sure no matter how drunk I got I'd never do something so stupid and destructive, but realistically you can't blame him for half a million euro worth of damage to a hotel because he turned on a hydrant

Deathwish4

Too easy to blame alcohol. Everyone is responsible for their own actions.

BearBanjer

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Surely it's the hotels fault....realistically you can't blame him for half a million euro worth of damage to a hotel because he turned on a hydrant

Logic fail.

WoollyRedHat

Devasting news, thoughts with family and friends, I genuinely got emotional reading that.

ryan101

"This entire thing has ruined my life completely”

“I’ve spent 10 years in Australia trying to better myself and in the space of one night everything can be taken away from you."

“People who go out for the night and drink too much can ruin themselves completely.”

Padraig Gaffney, 1985-2014, R.I.P.


Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him O Lord, and May Perpetual Light Shine Upon His Soul.

Del2005

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Surely it's the hotels fault for having this hydrant capable of causing 500,000 worth of damage, out in the open around the bar/where people who have been drinking in the hotel can easily get to? Now I'm sure no matter how drunk I got I'd never do something so stupid and destructive, but realistically you can't blame him for half a million euro worth of damage to a hotel because he turned on a hydrant

Have a look around any large building and you'll see easily accessible fire hydrants. The bigger risk is fire fighters not been able to find water than a drunken jack ass letting it off.

Realistically he was responsible as the courts imposed a fine.

amdublin

Very very sad.

eviltwin

Reading between the lines he took his own life over the stress of the court case. Yes its very sad but he was in that position because of his own actions. Everyone makes mistakes but the hotel was out of pocket for a large amount of money so I can understand why they took him to court. But its a tragic outcome and my thoughts are with his family.

Menas

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Surely it's the hotels fault for having this hydrant capable of causing 500,000 worth of damage, out in the open around the bar/where people who have been drinking in the hotel can easily get to? Now I'm sure no matter how drunk I got I'd never do something so stupid and destructive, but realistically you can't blame him for half a million euro worth of damage to a hotel because he turned on a hydrant

The hydrant was in the 8th floor stairwell, not in the ground floor bar.

But it is a very sad story. He was there for the weekend to propose. It all went Pete Tong for the lad. His girlfriend dumped him and he seemed shocked at what he had done.
But to die over this? Sad indeed.

The Backwards Man

I've stopped reading the comments below news sites. They just leave me angry, hurt, disappointed and with a strong desire to emigrate.

Then I remember that these trollish keyboard warriors, even though they seem to be in their thousands, are still in the tiny minority, and I pity their small minded, pathetic, hate filled lives.

tvc15

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Surely it's the hotels fault for having this hydrant capable of causing 500,000 worth of damage, out in the open around the bar/where people who have been drinking in the hotel can easily get to? Now I'm sure no matter how drunk I got I'd never do something so stupid and destructive, but realistically you can't blame him for half a million euro worth of damage to a hotel because he turned on a hydrant

It still needs to be accessible in case of a fire!

Ihatecuddles

Did he commit suicide over this? Or am I taking this up wrong?

Red Alert

Fire equipment is there to save lives. If you screw around with it, drunk or not, it's a legal and moral crime. What would have happened if the hydrant was unserviceable due to being mucked around with? People need to learn how to go out and have a few drinks without destroying property "for the craic".

Custardpi

In a previous time he could possibly have put this behind him by moving away after paying the fine. Unfortunately in the age of the internet everything can be googled so for the rest of his life the first thing that would have come up about him was this incident, making a career extremely difficult as many people are so quick to judge based on past errors. That's an enormous burden to carry & it was clearly too much for the guy. RIP.

Menas

mauzo! wrote: »

Did he commit suicide over this? Or am I taking this up wrong?

They have not released the cause of death yet.

Menas

Red Alert wrote: »

Fire equipment is there to save lives. If you screw around with it, drunk or not, it's a legal and moral crime. What would have happened if the hydrant was unserviceable due to being mucked around with? People need to learn how to go out and have a few drinks without destroying property "for the craic".

Did you read the article about what happened on the night?
He did not do it for the craic.

Olive8585

I'm torn because I obviously have sympathy for his friends and family, but at the same time he was a grown man and responsible for his actions. I don't know why so many Irish/British people feel that 'I was drunk' absolves them of any blame. He chose to get drunk and he caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage. Of course the hotel weren't stupid to have it where people could get to it - it needed to be accessible in case of a fire! It's not their fault that some people are irresponsible and can't hold their drink. It's about time the courts over here stopped accepting 'I was drunk' as an excuse, IMO.

Tipsy McSwagger

We all make stupid decisions with drink in us, but this young man had to go to court and face the embarrassment of his relatively silly mistake. Then he was treated like crap and faced further embarrassment by the local rag which had a headline that said “Drunk Paddy’s $500k flood of tears”. His gf then broke up with him. Poor chap just couldn't take it anymore.

TeddyTedson

His mental state of mind must have been extremely fragile.

Why the story received such a massive amount of media attention I'm not really sure. It wasn't the first time someone had done something stupid while drunk with huge consequences. The courts had dealt with the situation. But I guess you can't really blame the media either, it's the nature of the game.

Unfortunately nobody seemed to pick up on how badly the guy was taking it all and on high alert. Him saying he had "ruined his life" was a bit worrying.

Condolences to his family and friends,
RIP.

willowthewisp

Very sad, thoughts are with his family.
The young lad didn't mean any harm he made a mistake and seemed quite remorseful about it.

Muise...

It sounds like he took his life, rather than lost it. Ach, sad either way, but I wouldn't be blaming the hotel, as 'lost' might imply.

caustic 1

When I read about this yesterday I was thinking stupid fecker another irish idiot abroad, what a difference a day makes. He made a mistake and obviously felt deeply about it. I feel guilty about my thoughts today. RIP.

shamrock55

Did he kill himself or something? ! Its just that the article just said he died

Slicemeister

Pity the poor ex-girlfriend, what torture she's going through.

Capt'n Midnight

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Surely it's the hotels fault for having this hydrant capable of causing 500,000 worth of damage, out in the open around the bar/where people who have been drinking in the hotel can easily get to?

Fire Extinguishers are for small fires.

Once you start using a fire hose you've crossed the Godzilla Threshold and you can't make things worse than a fire and can pretty much write off nearby furnishings and fittings and electricals and partition walls because not using a fire hose

Deco99

Just to those who go on about the damage and drunken paddy stuff. He went to bed and got up and went out in hallway and urinated then went into stairwell and set off hydrant. When the firefighters found him he didnt remember a thing. Sounds like sleepwalking after drink to me. Can happen anyone.

shamrock55

Does anyone not find it a bit strange how a fire hydrant couldnt have been turned off as easy as it was turned on

Nino Brown

How can anybody suggest that it was wrong to "name and shame" him. He committed a criminal act, and should be treated the same as anybody else, he wasn't a minor, so there was no reason to not name him. The fact he subsequently died doesn't suddenly make it wrong to treat him the same as everybody else.
It's a pity he died, but he committed a crime, and was given a very fair punishment. If you go out and drink more than you can handle, then commit a crime, you will be prosecuted, and have your name published. if you don't think that's fair, then don't drink more than you can handle.

Ellie2008

eviltwin wrote: »

Reading between the lines he took his own life over the stress of the court case. Yes its very sad but he was in that position because of his own actions. Everyone makes mistakes but the hotel was out of pocket for a large amount of money so I can understand why they took him to court. But its a tragic outcome and my thoughts are with his family.

I'm not trying to argue that they shouldn't have taken him to court, I'm wondering why once said court had made its decision so many people got trigger happy with a keyboard and targeted a v remorseful man. He did the crime and paid the price the court felt was appropriate in the circumstances. Why his picture all over the papers? Why the mean comments? What does that say about us as a society?

Holsten

Highlights the huge problem of the media interference with criminal court cases.

ryan101

eviltwin wrote: »

Reading between the lines he took his own life over the stress of the court case. Yes its very sad but he was in that position because of his own actions. Everyone makes mistakes but the hotel was out of pocket for a large amount of money so I can understand why they took him to court. But its a tragic outcome and my thoughts are with his family.

Read the press reports.

This was not some scumbag that done it for kicks.

The Guy blacked out after a drinking session and had no idea what he had done, he was wandering around naked on the upper floors and someone had to find him underwear. The Hotel would be well insured. Mr Gaffney was fined 5,500. The Judge was quite sympathetic towards him. The poor lad took the whole thing very very badly. He was extremely remorseful.

meoklmrk91

Look it, he did something really stupid when he was out of it drunk, that this affected him so deeply says that he was a decent person who felt real remorse for his actions, it's a pity someone didn't see how hard he was taking it they might have been able to put things into perspective and he might still be here, while what he did was serious and it obviously changed the course of his life, it wasn't worth him taking his life over, poor fecker

Being drunk isn't an excuse, but I think it's fair to say the justice system isn't there for people like him, he felt genuinely terrible about what he did, there was no malice there, I know what he did was wrong but there are people who do far worse and never feel a moments remorse, like I said a bit of perspective might have saved his life, he must have felt really dreadful to do that. His poor family must be in bits.

The Backwards Man

Nino Brown wrote: »

How can anybody suggest that it was wrong to "name and shame" him. He committed a criminal act, and should be treated the same as anybody else, he wasn't a minor, so there was no reason to not name him. The fact he subsequently died doesn't suddenly make it wrong to treat him the same as everybody else.
It's a pity he died, but he committed a crime, and was given a very fair punishment. If you go out and drink more than you can handle, then commit a crime, you will be prosecuted, and have your name published. if you don't think that's fair, then don't drink more than you can handle.

Do you believe that criminals should be hung, drawn and quartered by the public after their crime has been dealt with by the courts? Doesn't seem much like justice to me.

WoollyRedHat

The guy was dealt with through the courts and now this. I don't think it is approrpiriate for people to passing judgement on this thread.

Ellie2008

Nino Brown wrote: »

How can anybody suggest that it was wrong to "name and shame" him. He committed a criminal act, and should be treated the same as anybody else, he wasn't a minor, so there was no reason to not name him. The fact he subsequently died doesn't suddenly make it wrong to treat him the same as everybody else.
It's a pity he died, but he committed a crime, and was given a very fair punishment. If you go out and drink more than you can handle, then commit a crime, you will be prosecuted, and have your name published. if you don't think that's fair, then don't drink more than you can handle.

I respect your opinion but in my view it was wrong. What s the point in it, so we can all have a good stare and our chance to heap scorn on a v remorseful man?! To sell papers? I can't see how publishing that story was in the public interest, he made a drunken mistake, the court fined him, end of as far as I'm concerned.

Skid X

Ellie2008 wrote: »

I'm not trying to argue that they shouldn't have taken him to court, I'm wondering why once said court had made its decision so many people got trigger happy with a keyboard and targeted a v remorseful man. He did the crime and paid the price the court felt was appropriate in the circumstances. Why his picture all over the papers? Why the mean comments? What does that say about us as a society?

So what do you suggest? Stop reporting criminal trials?

Sorry for the man and his family but you don't know what was going on in his head before, during or after his trial. Nobody knows why he decided on the actions he took after his conviction.

shamrock55

Does anyone know why they didnt just turn of the fire hydrant long before the place flooded??

Ellie2008

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

The guy was dealt with through the courts and now this. I don't think it is approrpiriate for people to passing judgement on this thread.

Thank you!! The reason I started this thread was because I can't understand how people feel the need to. It would appear he took his own life and people are still doing it?!

ryan101

shamrock55 wrote: »

Does anyone know why they didnt just turn of the fire hydrant long before the place flooded??

It was probably a 4" main running at full bore, with the blanking cap removed and running the in the middle of the night. It would just take seconds to do, fire hydrants by their very nature have to be easy to operate. By the time it was discovered, never mind shut off I'd say the damage was well done. The water ran through 8 floors and the hotel had to be evacuated.

Donkey Oaty

Deco99 wrote: »

Just to those who go on about the damage and drunken paddy stuff. He went to bed and got up and went out in hallway and urinated then went into stairwell and set off hydrant. When the firefighters found him he didnt remember a thing. Sounds like sleepwalking after drink to me. Can happen anyone.

The way some people are talking about it, you'd swear he'd planned it for weeks.

Nino Brown

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Do you believe that criminals should be hung, drawn and quartered by the public after their crime has been dealtvwith by the courts? Doesn't seem much like justice to me.

Don't be so over dramatic, he wasn't hung drawn and quartered. His actions were reported by the press, this caused him embarrassment, but tough sh!t. It's a tragedy that he died, but there is nobody to blame here but himself. Crimes are reported in every paper every day, and there's one very simple way of making sure your name doesn't appear...

eviltwin

Ellie2008 wrote: »

I'm not trying to argue that they shouldn't have taken him to court, I'm wondering why once said court had made its decision so many people got trigger happy with a keyboard and targeted a v remorseful man. He did the crime and paid the price the court felt was appropriate in the circumstances. Why his picture all over the papers? Why the mean comments? What does that say about us as a society?

I agree, its not news and shouldn't have been printed imo. It just adds to the stress of his family who are dealing with enough right now but its the Indo, its a rag so I wouldn't expect anything better from them.

eviltwin

ryan101 wrote: »

Read the press reports.

This was not some scumbag that done it for kicks.

The Guy blacked out after a drinking session and had no idea what he had done, he was wandering around naked on the upper floors and someone had to find him underwear. The Hotel would be well insured. Mr Gaffney was fined 5,500. The Judge was quite sympathetic towards him. The poor lad took the whole thing very very badly. He was extremely remorseful.

And???

Being out of your head on drink or drugs is no excuse, if you can't trust yourself to behave in a responsible way then don't drink to excess.

Ellie2008

Skid X wrote: »

So what do you suggest? Stop reporting criminal trials?

Sorry for the man and his family but you don't know what was going on in his head before, during or after his trial. Nobody knows why he decided on the actions he took after his conviction.

Well, publish the story, why publish his name? He was not a menace to society so I for one didn't need to know it.

No I don't it's an assumption I'm making in the circumstances, I could be wrong but it doesn't take away from my point about needless naming and shaming.

ryan101

Nino Brown wrote: »

Don't be so over dramatic, he wasn't hung drawn and quartered. His actions were reported by the press, this caused him embarrassment, but tough sh!t. It's a tragedy that he died, but there is nobody to blame here but himself. Crimes are reported in every paper every day, and there's one very simple way of making sure your name doesn't appear...

Quite the opposite of a scum bag, the guy effectively died of remorse, what if it was your relative or friend ?

Banjo String

eviltwin wrote: »

Reading between the lines he took his own life over the stress of the court case. Yes its very sad but he was in that position because of his own actions. Everyone makes mistakes but the hotel was out of pocket for a large amount of money so I can understand why they took him to court. But its a tragic outcome and my thoughts are with his family.

The hotel was insured I'd imagine, financial loss is absolutely no comparison to the loss of a loved one.

I read that article yesterday, then I reread it, the hotel and general area would be familiar to me.

Anyway, in the few times I read it I did not see any indication that he turned the hose on in malice or in purpose. What I got from the story was a lad who had too many ales, fell asleep awoke in a drunken stupor, and (we dont know how) turned on a fire hydrant.


Quite sad to see the usual finger pointing and high horsing around the place.

ryan101

eviltwin wrote: »

And???

Being out of your head on drink or drugs is no excuse, if you can't trust yourself to behave in a responsible way then don't drink to excess.

Read the reports again, he didn't use it as an excuse, that's what happened.

sasta le

I say died over breaking up

eviltwin

ryan101 wrote: »

Read the reports again, he didn't use it as an excuse, that's what happened.

So what? Do you think the hotel shouldn't have brought him to court over it? Lets face it, if this guy hadn't taken his own life there would be little sympathy for him.

Sad story. Was reading about it yesterday and then found out he died today.

It sounded like he was in a blackout when he turned the hydrant on, woke up and went for a wander and obviously did what he did.

Definately wouldn't berate someone for a mistake like that. I actually thought he got away fairly lightly with a 10k fine but the whole stress of the whole thing was too much. Obviously the chap was in turmoil inside and took his life. Very sad for his family and friends.