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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- RTÉ News
Three stories from inside the Satchwell house
In mid-November 2017, Tina Satchwell had been missing eight months. RTÉ Prime Time reporter Barry Cummins visited her home in Youghal, unaware that her body lay less than ten feet away buried beneath concrete. He was there to interview Tina's husband, Richard, who was yesterday found guilty of her murder. Here he writes about that day, and later learning that her remains were feet away - a fact that troubles him to this day. As part of a special programme on the trial of Richard Satchwell, he has since spoken with others who were also in 3 Grattan Street before Tina's body was discovered, six-and-a-half years after she went missing. James McNamara has a story like no-one else. He was the Limerick builder who dug down to the spot where he found the sheeting which held the body of Tina Satchwell. It was Wednesday 11 October 2023 when James brought a Kango hammer into the house and down to the confined space, inside a cubby hole, underneath the stairs of the Satchwell home. The house had been sealed off since the evening before, when Richard Satchwell had been arrested on suspicion of murder. After a fresh review of the missing person's case, a search warrant had been obtained to allow for an intrusive search of the property. That gave gardaí the power to dig up floors, pull down walls, and excavate wherever they saw fit. A plan had been devised six weeks before James and his colleagues assisted gardaí with work at the house. The strategy was that there would be ten search zones at the property - inside, to the rear, and to the side. A kitchen extension which had been built by Richard Satchwell at the back of the property was originally earmarked for special attention by gardaí. But once the house was sealed off, and before any excavation work commenced, a cadaver dog from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) - Fern - was brought in to walk the scene. Fern has successfully found many bodies which lay hidden beneath the ground or underwater. She and her handler were brought south to Youghal and walked the entirety of the four-storey property. Fern started at the top of the stairs and walked down the four flights of stairs with her handler. At the bottom of the stairs, in the hall, towards the bottom steps, Fern suddenly lay flat, giving a firm indication that something was to be found nearby. The house was a mess. Dog faeces were on the floor in many parts of the house, and you couldn't see much of the floor space. A concrete mixer and a sofa were among the many items blocking access to the understairs cubby hole. Part of the structure beside the narrow door under the stairs was a brick wall, with one brick a different hue to the others. The wall looked odd, once you could get a proper look at it, with all the items finally removed from the floor space in front. The brick wall looked amateurish, not professionally constructed. James McNamara and his colleague Pat O'Connor, and a garda from the Technical Bureau, Brian Barry, were standing in the living room on that October evening, discussing the demolition and excavation work to be commenced the following day, when they found themselves looking at the under stairs cubby hole. "The house was manky, I'd never seen anything like it in my life. The smell was very bad," James told me. As they chatted, they decided to take a closer look under the stairs. James went into the cramped space through the narrow entrance beside the brick wall. "Brian gave me a flashlight and I shone it down, and there was lino on the floor. We pulled away the lino and we could see the colour difference in the concrete," James said. A section of the concrete floor was a lighter shade than the rest. Detective Brian Barry quickly contacted the incident room in Midleton. Gardaí immediately agreed the area should be searched. James McNamara got the Kango hammer inside and began drilling into the concrete, but he soon stopped the machine. He had been expecting to drill through up to four inches of concrete, the normal amount that might be laid for flooring, but the concrete under the stairs was much thinner. "When I took up the floor the concrete basically fell apart. The filling underneath should be solid, but it was just loose filling," James told me. James quickly put the Kango hammer aside. The space was too cramped to use a large shovel to dig. Down on his knees, he began using a trowel to remove soil and put it to the side. Even the trowel seemed too big for the space. Soon, James was using his hands to remove the earth and dig down. A portable light was put close beside him to help him see what he was doing, as Detective Barry and James' colleague Pat stayed nearby. James remembers it took just a few minutes. "I went down about the length of my arm, two-and-a-half feet, and that's when I came across the polythene plastic." Detective Brian Barry immediately told James to stop his work, and gardaí began preserving the scene. "Brian said to me 'Right lads, you're done' and told us to leave," remembers James. Two forensic archaeologists, Niamh McCullagh and Aidan Harte, then began slow and methodical work to carefully unearth what was hidden beneath the stairs, a staircase I myself had previously walked up while being given a tour of the house by Richard six years before. Interviewing Richard Satchwell By the time I had entered the house, in late 2017, Tina Satchwell was missing eight months. Myself and two colleagues, producer Kevin Burns and camera operator Shirley Bradshaw, spent most of that evening in the front room of the house in the company of Richard Satchwell, who had agreed to an interview request. By then, Satchwell had, on a number of occasions, been openly asked if gardaí considered him a suspect in his wife's disappearance. I knew as I entered the house that November evening that gardaí had previously spent a full day searching the house with no sign of Tina being found. I can remember as I entered the property the smell of must and dust, as I sat in the front living room smelling the bird droppings which littered the cage in which the couple's parrot lived. Valentine was the parrot which had replaced the previous one, Pearl. Richard told me that the couple were heartbroken at Pearl's death. "We cried for weeks, we had an autopsy done and everything," he said as I stood with him looking at various items on a shelf which spoke of the life of a missing woman. Various bottles of nail varnish sat on the shelf, the ones used by Tina the day before she "got up and left" as Richard Satchwell described it. The bottles were covered in dust, the house was dirty, and the situation was unpleasant. The interviewee picked up a dusty full bottle of Cava which he said he'd bought in Tesco to mark the couple's 25th wedding anniversary the year before. "Tina never opened it," Satchwell recalled, as Pearl looked on. "I don't drink, I'm a teetotaller," he added. We looked above the shelf at a photo of Tina. "She got that done up in Tallaght," he said as we stood beside the parrot in the narrow living room. Richard Satchwell pointed at clothes on hangers resting on a door behind a couch. The clothes Tina bought at a car-boot sale the day before she disappeared. That night, we only filmed in the front room. But to reach it, we had to walk through the hallway and the middle room beside the stairs. As we carried our filming equipment into and out of the house, we would have walked less than three feet from the understairs clandestine burial area. I have often reflected on my interactions with Richard Satchwell, and I am still processing it all. I was doing my job, interviewing a man who was making public appeals for his missing wife. On every occasion I met him - and I even had Richard Satchwell in my own car as we drove around Youghal - I would learn new information. The more I met him the more he talked, and the more he lied. Prosecution The interviews I conducted with Richard Satchwell were used as part of the prosecution's case, showing his demeanour and his comments even as his wife's body lay just feet away from where he and I sat on a couch in his home. I was one of a small number of journalists who had been inside the house at Grattan Street as Tina's body lay hidden, still dressed in her pyjamas and nightgown, as she lay face down beneath the stairs. Kyran O'Brien was working as a photographer with the Irish Independent when he photographed Richard Satchwell at the top of the house, beside the walk-in wardrobe where Tina kept the many clothes she had purchased at car-boot sales and in charity shops. The clothes were often designer labels, Tina always had an eye for a bargain, and she always had an eye for fashion. "All the clothes were immaculately folded and put in plastic and displayed very well," remembered Kyran. "And then he showed me another room where there was a sunbed that he had built as well. And it was all quite tight. It was quite a tight stairs. It was an old, very thin house. The rooms were quite small, but there were basically walk-in wardrobes." Like me, Kyran remembers there was a smell in the house, a smell of damp and dust and neglect. "There was dog poo and there was parrot poo and it was dirty. It was unkempt, it was smelly. It wasn't clean. And he kept trying to offer us cups of tea. And I kept sort of saying to him, 'we have a long drive home, so I'd rather not'," Kyran said. "It's terrible," Kyran told me, "to know I was in the house and the poor woman was not ten feet from where I was sitting. It'll stick with me." James McNamara did the State, and Tina Satchwell, a service when he got down on his knees and began to dig that October evening in 2023. It's a moment he won't forget. "We knew what we were doing was very important work. It was great to be involved with a case like this. It gives a family peace, so it was actually massive." The fact that machinery such as ground penetrating radar failed to give an indication of a body beneath the stairs is due perhaps to the fact the grave was so deep. Tina's body had been buried nearly three feet down, under soil, concrete and a layer of lino. And for years people, including myself, walked those stairs above, never knowing. There are many lessons to be learned from this case for everyone, and there are many vivid memories that will stay with me of my interactions over a number of months with Richard Satchwell.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Zoo Knoxville welcomes new litter of bat-eared fox kits
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Zoo Knoxville is now home to six more bat-eared foxes, with the second litter to a pair of parents being born at the end of April. According to Zoo Knoxville, the six kits, two males and four females, were born on April 30. This is the second set of bat-eared fox kits from mother Motsumi and father Fern, who welcomed their first kit, Ziggy, in 2024. Zoo Knoxville said all six kits are thriving and have begun eating solid food. Zoo Knoxville welcomes two new rhinos ahead of new exhibit opening 'This is one of the largest litters of bat-eared foxes born in human care in the country, and we are thrilled with how well all six kits are doing,' said Terry Canon, Head Curator of Carnivores. 'Fern and Motsumi are showing outstanding parental instincts. They are working closely together to care for and protect their young.' Zoo Knoxville said both parents are working together and providing excellent care for their growing family. The kits recently had a wellness check with the zoo's veterinary team, and while they are being monitored closely, human interaction is being kept to a minimum to allow the kits to bond with their family naturally. Guests may soon be able to spot the kits during the early mornings and later afternoons as they venture out of the den. Zoo Knoxville welcomes litter of endangered red wolf pups Bat-eared foxes play a vital role in controlling insect populations in the more than 10 African Countries they are native to. Annually, one bat-eared fox can consume more than a million termites. Zoo Knoxville said while the species is not endangered, they are increasingly impacted by habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Irish Sun
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Fern Britton reveals how she lost five stone after end of 20-year marriage and ‘lying in bed feeling sorry for herself'
FERN Britton says she chose to lose five stone over lying in bed "feeling sorry for herself". The ex This Morning presenter, 67, has been on a health kick for 18-months after realising: "I need to get my life back on track." Advertisement 3 Fern Britton revealed her striking new look after losing five stone Credit: David Venni/futurenet 3 The 67-year-old pictured after Celebrity Big Brother in March 2024 Credit: Rex She told how she quit booze and smoking and cut 80 per cent of sugar out her diet to lose the weight naturally. Celebrity Big Brother star Fern told "At times, I get more tired than I used to or when I'm working in the garden, I think, 'That's heavy'." She said of her twin sons Harry and Jack, 31, and daughter Grace, 27, from her first marriage, to Clive Jones, and daughter Winnie, 23, with Phil Vickery: "I don't want them to feel guilty about not seeing me or worried about me if I'm not well. Advertisement READ MORE ON FERN BRITTON "It's important that I show them I'm living my own life well." Fern says a shoulder replacement kick-started her need to get her eating under control. She started the Couch to 5K and has today been showing off her new look, five stone down. It comes after the end of her 20-year marriage to TV chef Phil. Advertisement Most read in News TV "I told myself, 'I need to stop smoking, stop drinking, get eating under control and stop lying in bed feeling sorry for myself'", Fern added. She admits she's "feeling pretty good", but "it would be foolish to say I feel spot on 100 per cent of the time" since the split. 3 She has transformed her lifestyle to lose weight naturally Credit: David Venni/futurenet
Scottish Sun
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Fern Britton reveals how she lost five stone after end of 20-year marriage and ‘lying in bed feeling sorry for herself'
The former presenter said she needed to get her life 'back on track' wake up call Fern Britton reveals how she lost five stone after end of 20-year marriage and 'lying in bed feeling sorry for herself' FERN Britton says she chose to lose five stone over lying in bed "feeling sorry for herself". The ex This Morning presenter, 67, has been on a health kick for 18-months after realising: "I need to get my life back on track." 3 Fern Britton revealed her striking new look after losing five stone Credit: David Venni/futurenet 3 The 67-year-old pictured after Celebrity Big Brother in March 2024 Credit: Rex She told how she quit booze and smoking and cut 80 per cent of sugar out her diet to lose the weight naturally. Celebrity Big Brother star Fern told Woman&Home magazine: "I'm just two years off 70 so it's very real. I can't believe it, actually! "At times, I get more tired than I used to or when I'm working in the garden, I think, 'That's heavy'." She said of her twin sons Harry and Jack, 31, and daughter Grace, 27, from her first marriage, to Clive Jones, and daughter Winnie, 23, with Phil Vickery: "I don't want them to feel guilty about not seeing me or worried about me if I'm not well. "It's important that I show them I'm living my own life well." Fern says a shoulder replacement kick-started her need to get her eating under control. She started the Couch to 5K and has today been showing off her new look, five stone down. It comes after the end of her 20-year marriage to TV chef Phil. "I told myself, 'I need to stop smoking, stop drinking, get eating under control and stop lying in bed feeling sorry for myself'", Fern added. She admits she's "feeling pretty good", but "it would be foolish to say I feel spot on 100 per cent of the time" since the split.
Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Fern Britton on looking for love and her This Morning return
TV favourite Fern Britton is loving life in Cornwall but admits sometimes she does miss having someone special She is back in great shape but Fern Britton is not hankering for a TV comeback or a man in her life. Instead she wants to continue to write bestselling books from her Cornwall home. At 67, it is now five years since her 20-year marriage to TV chef Phil Vickery ended, but Fern insists: 'I'm not looking for love. "I'm still a bit too wary of losing my liberty. There's nobody to run something past but, on the other hand, I think back to running things past people and it never really worked out, so why don't I just make my own decision? Then I'm the only person who can go, 'I f***ed up there.' 'I'm feeling pretty good [but] it would be foolish to say I feel spot on 100% of the time. Cats are great companions but there are days when I'm actually quite lonely because sitting, writing on your own is lonely, but it's good to admit it.' Fern is speaking to Woman&Home magazine to promote her 11th novel, A Cornish Legacy, which centres around Wilderhoo, a fictional 1,000-year-old Cornish house that has gone to rack and ruin. Sub consciously at least it must be slightly autobiographical as the main character was very successful in London and whose life has absolutely fallen apart. She comes down to Cornwall to take on this house and the house and the woman repair themselves together. On her own recent health improvements and weight loss, Fern says: 'People often wonder when you lose lots of weight whether you've done it naturally. And I can look at you and say, 'Yes, I have.' I had my shoulder replacement 18 months ago, and two-and-a-half years ago, when I saw the surgeon, he said, 'I'm going to totally replace your shoulder, I'll see you in a year.' I thought, 'I need to get my life back on track. I need to stop smoking, stop drinking, get eating under control and stop lying in bed feeling sorry for myself.' So I started the Couch to 5k, took about 80% of the sugar out of my life and started to think about what I was eating, which I had never done before. "As a child, I just couldn't stop eating sugar, so [I ended up with a] big sugar addiction. I never had the button that said, 'Stop eating, you've had enough.' Curiously, having three sensible meals a day – which everyone has told me [to do] for the last 60 years – actually worked!' The only thing failing her in terms of her health is not so visible when it comes to her youthful appearance. 'I'm getting more deaf. I first got hearing aids about 10 years ago [but] I just couldn't deal with it, then a year ago I thought, 'I'll try again.' I have to keep persevering and I'm wearing them today, but they drive me mad. I can't hear anybody any clearer because I can hear all the clatter in the room louder as well. "Taking them out is lovely, but I also know that [without them], I miss out on a lot of things and I mishear everything. I try to lip-read and that's very frustrating.' Fern's slim look makes her perfect for also heading back to the small screen and more TV work in the coming years if she headed back to London. She returned to This Morning last year for a series of shorts about the British Isles. And then there is also her own ITV show Fern Britton: Inside the Vet's. But it seems novel writing is what she wants to continue spending the majority of her time doing in 2025 in Cornwall. On This Morning she said of the films: 'They were fun but, no, I won't be going back to do This Morning. Never go back, that's my motto – for anything. Never look back, never go back. 'I don't honestly watch it. When you've been in that wonderful place, then you think, 'No, it's going to change,' and I don't want to.' She adds: 'My forefront is now being a writer and it's taken me a long time to accept that. Gosh, yes, I can say I'm an author now!' * A Cornish Legacy by Fern Britton is out on June 5. The July issue of woman&home is on sale May 29.
