Irishman dies in Australia after court conviction

A Roscommon man who pleaded guilty in a Melbourne court this week to causing more than AUS$500,000 (€ 335,350) damage to a hotel in April last year has died.

Pádraig Gaffney (29) was before a court on Tuesday in relation to the incident in which he was drunk and turned on a fire hydrant flooding the hotel.

He was fined $10,00 after pleading guilty to a charge of criminal damage.

He had travelled to Melbourne from Queensland to celebrate his 28th birthday and to ask his girlfriend to marry him.

Mr Gaffney told Melbourne’s Age newspaper the episode had ruined his life completely.

Mr Gaffney trained as a carpenter in Ireland and worked in construction in Queensland.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman confirmed consular assistance had been offered to the family of an Irishman who had died in Melbourne.