Taxpayers forking out hundreds a week for accommodation of Michael Gaine suspect
Taxpayers are forking out hundreds of euro a week to pay for the accommodation of the Michael Gaine suspect, it has emerged.
As officers continue their probe into the murder of Kenmare farmer Mr Gaine, sources have told The Irish Mirror that the suspect is living in a flat paid for out of state coffers.
"He is not paying for it himself, he is being given accommodation," a source told us last night.
It's believed the accommodation is costing at least €250 a week.
The suspect, who was living in the Kenmare area when Mr Gaine disappeared in March, recently moved away and was given accommodation in the Tralee area.
He had been interacting with gardai and other agencies in recent weeks and he was put up in the accommodation when he left the Kenmare area.
The man had previously been assessed as being vulnerable and sources tell us he required state aid, including the accommodation.
"He has no money and is not in any state to pay for his own bed," a source said.
He was in the accommodation when he was arrested by detectives from Killarney Garda Station and is understood to have been driven back to it when he was released without charge on Monday night.
Gardai had the power to detain him for 24 hours and held him for the full period before releasing him without charge.
Officers say the investigation is ongoing.
Sources tell us that members of the Dublin-based Garda Technical Bureau are tonight still at Mr Gaine's farm in Carrig East, around 8km outside Killarney – five days after they were called to the scene.
They were sent to the 1,000 acre farm after the dramatic discovery of partial human remains there on Friday afternoon.
The discovery was made by neighbours who were spreading slurry – taken from a tank on Mr Gaine's farmyard – on his land.
Pieces of remains got stuck in the spreader and when the neighbours examined them, they quickly called in gardai.
That led to the farm being declared a crime scene – and being minutely searched by local gardai, the Technical Bureau, the Water Unit and even members of the Defence Forces engineers' specialist search team.
Those searches were continuing on Wednesday.
The dismembered remains that were found on Friday and over the weekend on at least two fields have all been taken away for analysis.
But sources tell us forensics experts have briefed Garda investigators that the remains have been confirmed as being those of Mr Gaine.
A Garda spokesman said there was no update on the formal identification on Wednesday evening.
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