Ex-assistant of Luke 'Ming' Flanagan admits Saoirse McHugh 'skinny ...
The politician has issued a statement following the hearing
AN ex-assistant of an Irish politician has admitted in court that he hacked the MEP’s social media and posted about a naked photo of another politician.
In September 2020, Luke Ming Flanagan’s Twitter account posted a comment about former Green Party candidate Saoirse McHugh skinny dipping.
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The post was later deleted and the Midlands-Northwest MEP claimed that his account had been hacked.
The politician reported the issue to the European Parliament who then handed the case over to the authorities in Brussels and an investigation was launched.
Diarmuid Hayes – MEP Ming Flanagan’s former assistant – today admitted in court that he was the person behind the controversial post.
According to RTE, the 34-year-old from Dublin told the court that he was upset with the MEP for not renewing his contract.
He said that he had been smoking cannabis on the night that he published the controversial post and claimed it has been “a joke.”
However, the court heard that the social media post had led to Luke Ming Flanagan’s family being “put through hell”.
The court heard how the Irish politician’s wife and children suffered abuse on the street over the post with a mocking montage referring to the post shown to his nine-year-old daughter.
A friend had asked his daughter: “What was your daddy at?”
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The MEP’s older daughter, who is 19 and suffers from autism, had become afraid to leave the house unless she was with her father.
The court heard that Luke Ming Flanagan sought therapy over the media coverage of the incident and he said: “The coverage it got was absolutely massive.
“The fact that I'm innocent will not get as much coverage. I’ll pay the price for this forever."
The prosecutor told the court that the post had been published in the early hours of the morning with a deliberate spelling mistake to make it look like the MEP had been drunkenly searching for photos.
The court heard that it was a calculated act of revenge and that Diarmuid Hayes had knowingly thrown the MEP’s honour “to the dogs.”
'Sorry doesn't add up'Ming Flanagan said that he did not accept Mr Hayes' apology, saying: “Sorry doesn’t add up. This was a cold, calculated and skilfully carried out attempt to destroy me.”
According to RTE, the Belgian prosecutor in the case has sought a one year prison sentence for Diarmuid Hayes on the back of the case.
Sentencing for the case has been put back to March 25.
Speaking to media outside the court, Ming Flanagan said: “The good news for me is it's now quite clear who did this and my name has been cleared, and I can get on with what is a far more important job.”
