Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I WAS PUP FOR CHANCE TO WORK WITH LEGENDS Fergie could testify in Andrew sex case
Ulster firm designs dogwear for film giants Aardman after chance email Duchess ‘to face pizza alibi grilling’
THE creators of Wallace and Gromit have merged talents with a Northern Ireland company to make dog clothes and accessories for the global market.
Aardman, the billion-dollar firm name behind The Wrong Trousers, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, contacted Co Down man Denis Kelly in an email, asking for collaboration.
Today, eight months on, they are announcing worldwide availability of a range of Wallace and Gromit dog clothing by Urbanpup.
From his warehouse in Balloo, Bangor, Denis said the chance of a lifetime could have passed him by: “I’m just glad I didn’t miss that email. It was an initial introduction and I didn’t realise it was from Aardman, and it was only after a couple of messages back and forth that Aardman was mentioned, along with Wallace and Gromit.
“They’d seen that we were making dog football shirts for the Northern Ireland and the Scotland football team and asked how I’d feel about
making a range for Wallace and Gromit. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’m a fan so I knew right away who I was dealing with, and it was huge.
“I only had to think about it for a second, just to catch my breath, before I said yes. My stomach hit the floor because they’re absolutely massive, and I thought this would be one big break for us if we could pull it off.”
Denis, 60, set up Urbanpup in 2007 with business partner Andrew Cosgrove, from Lisburn, Co Antrim.
The idea for the business came from a chance conversation with his daughter about the Kelly family dog, Buster. He said: “Buster was just a puppy and my daughter was worried he’d get cold out walking and so she got a little coat to keep him warm.”
Urbanpup’s Wallace and Gromit range goes on sale today.
Denis said: “We suggested that we could make the famous yellow sou’wester coat and hat, then we have Wallace’s sweater complete with shirt and tie in a chunky knit. The whole experience has been amazing.”
PRINCE Andrew’s ex Sarah Ferguson could be ordered to testify in his US sex case.
Lawyers want to quiz her over the Duke of York’s claim he was at Pizza Express when Virginia Giuffre claimed he abused her in 2001.
During his car crash BBC Newsnight interview, Andrew said he was at the restaurant in Woking on the evening of one of the alleged encounters with the then-teenager.
Courtiers believe that since the Duchess’ whereabouts were a part of her ex-husband’s story, she may be called to testify by Ms Giuffre’s legal team.
Andrew said he knew where he was on the night in question as the Duchess was away. He said they had a rule that when one was away the other was there for their children.
The Duke’s lawyers are prepared to fight the allegations but if the case progresses he will have to hand over personal documents. It would also mean people close to him, such as family and friends, may be called to testify.
The Prince is facing a lawsuit filed by Ms Giuffre that claims he sexually abused her three times in 2001 when she was 17 after being loaned to her by his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
Bradley Simon, a former federal prosecutor in New York who now works as a defence attorney specialising in complex civil litigation, said: “They’re going to ask for the kitchen
sink, seek every correspondence, phone logs, emails, diaries. They’re going to go after people who were with him. It will be open season.” Andrew, 61, has vehemently Epstein denied all the allegations made against him. Fergie had a fraught relationship with Epstein, whose home in New York she once visited. The Wall Street financier, who committed suicide in August 2019, threatened to sue his pal’s wife after she called him a paedophile in 2011. Fergie, 61, said she had made a “gigantic error of judgement” after it emerged she accepted £15,000 from Epstein to help clear a debt.