Judge grants early hearing of application to get Virgin to take down footage of dead man
High Court Reporters
A judge has granted an early hearing date for a "takedown" application against Virgin Media Television over part of a programme which featured film footage of a man with addiction issues lying dead during an ambulance call out to his flat.
Two sisters of Bernard Slean, whose body was filmed as emergency services attended his flat in Ayrfield, Dublin, on October 8TH, 2025, are seeking the takedown order against Virgin, which broadcast the footage as part of a documentary series called "First Timers on the Frontline" in which the camera followed ambulance personnel in the course of their work.
The sisters, Jennifer McCaffrey and Alison Lynch, claim there was a trespass on the flat which they own along with Bernard and a breach of privacy.
But they first want an order that Virgin remove the material from its player and from social media.
They have brought High Court proceedings against the makers of the documentary, Alley Cat Films Ltd, with a registered address in Culdaff, Co Donegal, and against Virgin Media TV.
On Wednesday, their barrister Conor Bowman SC said that while Alleycat had given an undertaking and filed an affidavit, Virgin had not done so.
Tom Murphy BL, for Alleycat, said he would also be representing Virgin in the case, and it was their position that there was no breach of privacy in this footage and they would be resisting the application.
It was a less than five-minute section of a 40-minute "fly-on-the-wall" documentary, and there was a counter-balancing public interest in it, he said.
Asked by the judge about the issue of trespass, Mr Murphy said as stated in his client's replying affidavit the filming had the imprimatur of the national ambulance service and the gardaí.
The judge said he could understand there was a protocol with the ambulance service and the gardai for filming in public places, but this was on private property, and the deceased was not in a position to grant permission for the filming to take place.
He thought the matter should be heard urgently and he adjourned it for hearing next Wednesday.
