Following the death of his daughter Kate Fitzgerald last year, her father Tom was told she had died from a broken neck after hanging herself at her home. Empty alcohol bottles at the scene suggested she had been drinking heavily. She was also “off her medication”.

Months later he was sent the autopsy report.

From today’s Sunday Independent:

Kate did not die of a broken neck.
She died slowly of ligature strangulation.
Kate had not stopped taking her medication. The medication levels were clinically spot on.
Kate had not been drinking heavily.
She died with the equivalent of one drink in her system.

Kate’s hyoid bone — a small bone in the neck — was broken. This unattached bone in the neck can only be broken by horizontal pressure. It is extremely rare in suicidal hanging and even more so with a young person.
We’ve spoken to a number of legal people on this matter and since the autopsy report, we’ve done a lot of research, and this injury is always a strong indicator of murder.
We went back to the Kevin Street gardai. They reluctantly agreed to have another look. Two more weeks and I was told that they had looked and said there was no reason to investigate further.
I went to the Garda Ombudsman and after some persuasion he agreed that the investigation must be reopened. It took almost three months from the arrival of the autopsy, but, based on a demand from the Garda Ombudsman, a team of detectives reopened the investigation on May 4. It was now almost nine months since Kate’s body was found…

‘We Can’t Accept Suicide As The Only Explanation Of Kate’s Death'(Tom Fitzgerald, The Sunday Independent)

Kate Fitzgerald on Broadsheet

Really?

REALLY?

Publisher Richard Desmond says he will cut ties with the Irish Daily Star after it printed topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge. The newspaper – joint-published by Mr Desmond’s Northern and Shell group – printed several photographs of the Duchess sunbathing while on holiday.
The pictures appeared on pages six and seven of Saturday’s edition.
Daily Star Sunday editor Gareth Morgan told Sky News: “We’re absolutely horrified here in the office, and as a company. This has no merit as an editorial decision, it has no merit morally, it’s frankly a horrible decision.”

Newspaper Boss Anger Over Topless Pictures (SKY)

 

Desmond is convinced he has the power to shut down the whole operation, given that he owns the British title. Insiders believe he has already instructed lawyers to begin the necessary legal action to terminate publication. Its website remained down on Saturday evening. Desmond’s company, Northern & Shell, co-owns the Irish Daily Star with the Dublin-based Independent News & Media (INM).

Desmond To Close Irish Star (Roy Greenslade and Josh Layton, Guardian)

 

A spokesperson for Independent News and Media, the co-owner of the Irish Daily Star, has said “it was regrettable and in poor taste”, that the newspaper published the pictures.He said that “Independent News and Media had no prior knowledge of the decision to publish” the pictures.
Irish Daily star editor Michael O’ Kane defended the publication.
“I did this as a service to our readers, I’m a little taken aback by the reaction in the UK,” Mr O’Kane told the BBC earlier today.
“It only seems to be an issue in the UK because she is your future queen. But from our point of view in Ireland, Kate Middleton is just another of the fantastic line of celebrities.”

Irish Daily Star Owners ‘To Close Down Joint Venture’ Over Middleton Pictures (RTE)

Desmond, eh?

He scored a breakthrough in 1983 by persuading Bob Guccione to award him the licence to publish Penthouse magazine in Britain. Desmond persuaded Menzies and WH Smith to sell his expanding range of magazines. Overnight, he became one of Britain’s biggest porn publishers and the provider of hugely profitable sex chatlines.

RIchard Desmond: The Porn King’s Coup (Tom Bower, Guardian, July 2010) 

Pic via Kevin Purcell


Fionn Kidney of Science Gallery at TCD writes:

We may not have a hoverboard to show you yet – but we do have quantum levitating ceramic sapphire. It’s on display as part of our new show MAGICAL MATERIALS, which launches this evening and run until October 14th.

sciencegallery

Redditor mard86 received an email from a colleague explaining that he would be late for work because he was trying to ‘untie a squirrel tail knot’. When asked for a picture, the above snap arrived along with the following explanation:

I was pressed into squirrel rescue this morning on my way out. 5 young squirrels got tangled in Christmas lights in my neighbor’s yard. We got the lights off, but now their tails are one big knot, so I have to bring them into a rescue place to untie them, as I am unequipped to untie squirrel tail knots. I should be in this afternoon.

dailywh.at/dangerousminds

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