Norbrook Laboratories received €8.55m insurance pay-out following Haughey death

The late Eddie Haughey RIP

Newry-based Norbrook Laboratories has received an insurance pay-out of £6.12m (€8.55m) arising from the death of its founder and CEO Edward Haughey.

The former Seanad member and chairman of the group, Lord Ballyedmond died in March of last year in a helicopter crash in thick fog in Norfolk along with three others.

At the time of the crash, Dundalk native Lord Ballyedmond (70) was Northern Ireland’s richest man with his personal wealth estimated to be around £650m.

Now, new accounts filed by Norbrook Holdings Ltd to Companies House in the UK disclose that the group received the exceptional gain of £6.12m through its ‘keyman insurance policy’.

Businesses take out ‘keyman’ insurance policies to compensate for any financial losses that may arise from the death of a key member of business.

The £6.12m gain contributed to profits increasing at the group last year by 7pc to £22m.

The group – which employs 2,045 people – recorded the increase in profits in spite of revenues decreasing by 2pc from £202.49m to £198.7m in the 12 months to the end of August 1, 2014.

The accounts show that Mr Haughey last year received emoluments from Norbrook Laboratories totalling £2.7m.

Lord Ballyedmond was born in Kilcurry, north of Dundalk and was educated by the Christian Brothers in Dundalk.

According to the directors’ report since Lord Ballyedmond’s death, the company has taken steps to strengthen its board and management team and has appointed to the board Lady Ballyedmond, Prof James Haughey and Edward Haughey.

Liam Nagle – who previously served as CEO of the Sisk group – was appointed Norbrook Laboratories chief executive in February of this year.

Haughey was suing helicopter manufacturers prior to fatal crash

The wreckage of the helicopter in Gillingham, Norfolk, England, which crashed yesterday, killing all four occupants, including locally born businessman Edward Haughey.

Millionaire businessman Eddie Haughey, who was killed along with three other men in a Norfolk helicopter crash on Thursday, was suing its manufacturers about alleged faults.

The case, taken by Mr Haughey’s company, Haughey Air Limited against Agusta Westland, came before Judge Mackie at the Commercial Court in London in late February, according to court records.

The legal action began last September, where Mr Haughey demanded repayment of the full cost of the helicopter because of a series of faults that kept it on the ground for 85 days of repairs.

High Court documents report that he alleged that the Agusta Westland had suffered a series of defects and reliability problems, including a hole in one of its blades and gearbox oil leaks.

Air accident investigators are expected to spend days gathering remnants of the helicopter which crashed near Gillingham on Thursday, killing Lord Edward Haughey and three other men.

A hugely successful businessman, Dundalk-born Mr Haughey was the second person to have been both a member of the Oireachtas and the British House of Lords, where he sat as Lord Ballyedmond. He was appointed to the Seanad by Albert Reynolds in 1994.

A series of witnesses report hearing a loud bang, followed by the sound of an engine winding down seconds before the Agusta Westland AW139 crashed shortly before 8pm.

The AW139 medium twin helicopter was bought in 2011 and delivered a year later and flew Mr Haughey regularly between his homes in Northern Ireland and Norfolk.

The helicopter model has a top speed of 165 knots (306 km/h), a range of nearly 1,000 kms and can fly for up to five hours, according to its manufacturer.

The crash site is 150-200 square metres, Norfolk Constabulary said yesterday, covering parts of a ploughed field and a main road, near a roundabout.

Three of the four crash victims were officially named: Mr Haughey; his estate foreman, Declan Small and Carl Dickerson from Lancashire. The fourth man has been named locally as Lee Hoyle.

Police ruled out any suspicious circumstances that could have led to the crash, before handing over to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). The bodies of the men were taken from the scene as darkness fell yesterday, while all roads, bar one, that had been closed for nearly 24 hours were reopened.

One witness, Michael Tabby, said he and a friend were standing outside a McDonald’s branch at the roundabout when they heard a helicopter “coming in quite low.

“It sounded like it was in difficulty and was trying to land,” he said, but it then crossed the road. “There was a loud bang followed by the sound of an engine winding down.”

Source: The Irish Times