‘McCann scam’ private eye died of brain haemorrhage
A PRIVATE detective accused of exploiting the Madeleine McCann hunt to fund his lavish lifestyle died of a brain haemorrhage, an inquest heard.
Kevin Halligen, 56, ran Oakley International, which won a contract from the girl’s parents.
Paramedics were called to his home in Normandy, Surrey, on January 8 but he could not be saved. A postmortem found he died of an acute subdural haemorrhage and a pathologist said there was “no sign of an assault”. At Woking coroner’s court, Coroner Simon Wickens opened and adjourned the inquest to July 2. Halligen’s firm got £300,000 of cash donated by the public after Madeleine, three, vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007. Halligen later denied claims the cash was siphoned off to pay for first-class travel, top hotels and a chauffeur.