THE family of a man who died four days after a Judge cast doubts on his claims to be ill and in need of care — as he pleaded for his son not to be jailed for assault — yesterday hit out at the comments made in court.

They described as ‘outrageous’ Judge Raymond Groarke’s description of Gerard Thornton as ‘a fraud and a chancer’.

Speaking at a sitting of Galway Circuit Court on Friday week last, the Judge said he had been ‘codded’ by Mr. Thornton’s ‘performance’ at a previous sitting, during which he had claimed to be debilitated and weak, and asked that his son, who was his sole carer, not be jailed.