Gardai are investigating reports that the body of an elderly man was allegedly brought to a post office and propped up in a bid to get some money.
Reports suggest that the attempt was made in Co Carlow, South-East Ireland, to claim his pension.
Carlow mayor Ken Murnane said the local community is absolutely shocked by the reports.
He told PA news agency: “The whole town is in shock that anyone could actually think of doing something like that, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s just mind-boggling that anyone could happen to do something like that, it beggars belief. It’s like a Hitchcock movie.”
According to The Irish Times, a man entered the post office at around 11:30am trying to collect the weekly pension of another individual. He was told that the recipient of the pension would have to be present and left.
Some time later, it's said that two men - accompanied by a third in his 60s - arrived with two of them trying to get the third man's pension.
Reports suggest that the third man appeared to be propped up and a woman who became suspicious alerted staff.
No money was given to the men and they left, leaving the body behind. Police are now looking at CCTV which is said to have been in operation at the time.
Local Fine Gael Cllr Fergal Browne told The Irish Times that the incident was 'shocking and very upsetting for everyone locally'.
He went on to speak about the man who had passed away saying he was a 'decent guy, very well regarded and liked and caused no offence to anybody,' adding: "You couldn’t make up what happened. It’s unreal. You are looking at it as a rational person, but whoever did this were not rational.”
A Garda spokesperson said they are investigating all the circumstances surrounding the unexplained death of an elderly male in the Carlow area on Friday morning.
“The services of the Garda Technical Bureau and the Office of the State Pathologist have been requested,” they said.
“A post-mortem will be conducted by the Office of the State Pathologist, the results of which will determine the course of the investigation.
“No further information is available at this time.”
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Rebecca Shepherd