Sister-in-law of murder victim wants wedding photos
A Derry bride whose brother in law was brutally murdered after her wedding in Redcastle, has appealed to local photographer Edel Payne to hand over her wedding pictures.
Michelle Dobbins and her husband Liam can only look back on their wedding day in May 2007, with horrific memories of how Jim McFadden was beaten to death in the front garden of his Shantallow home. James Meehan, his wife Brenda and her son, Sean Devenney have since been jailed for his murder.
However despite their ordeal the Dobbins have not been given their wedding pictures which were taken by photographer Edel Payne - who was declared bankrupt last Friday.
Michelle, who is the sister of Jim McFadden's wife Ita is now making a public appeal for Edel Payne to "do the right thing."
She says the only memories she has are a "few snaps" because her wedding guests have turned their pictures over to the police as evidence.
"The day I became a wife, my sister became a widow," said Michelle.
"We invited the Meehans to our wedding because they had invited us to their wedding. We didn't go to their wedding but when ours came round we felt we had to return the invite. On the day everything had gone great. I heard there had been some niggling but that was kept away from me."
As Michelle and Liam retired for the night at the Redcastle Hotel they were safe in the knowledge that Ita, Jim and their children were on the bus home. However a phone call in the middle of the night changed their lives forever.
"Liam and I rushed to Derry," explained Michelle. "We didn't speak one word to each other, we couldn't believe that Jim was dead. All day at the wedding Jim had been looking after our twins Faye and Oisin. He wasn't just a brother in law to me, he was a friend, he was a special man.
"We just look back at our wedding day and wonder if we could have done something differently, we feel that it was us who brought everybody together. We've told Ita that it doesn't matter about us, but she wants us to get our wedding album."
After Jim's murder Michelle says she waited a number of months before contacting Edel about her album.
"The last thing on my mind was my wedding pictures," she said. "But people kept asking me about it so I decided to go and see her."
Michelle told the 'Journal' she made several visits to Edel's shop where she gave the photographer a list of all the pictures she had chosen, but she has never received an album.
"The receptionist then told me Edel had lost our disc, but that she would sort it out," said Michelle. "I kept trying to contact Edel but could never get her. The next thing was Jim's trial so we let it go for a while. The next time I went to the shop, the shutters were pulled down.
"I'm asking Edel to come forward and sort this out. She can fix this. We know she's had a tough time, but we have had a terrible two years.
"We were robbed on our wedding day and now we feel robbed again, we're due a break, all we want is our album."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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