Larrimah cook blames pub for pork pies about Paddy Moriarty

Fran Hodgetts has been forced to tear down a poster linking her pies to those of Sweeney Todd, the fictional “demon barber of Fleet St” | PODCAST

Fran's Devonshire Tea House owner Fran Hodgetts.

To most customers, she’s the sharp-tongued pie cook who serves them tea and cakes at her quirky Devonshire tea house in the Northern Territory outback.

But now Fran Hodgetts is having to tear down a poster linking her pies to those of Sweeney Todd, the fictional, bloodthirsty “demon barber of Fleet Street” whose victims ended up in meat pies.

A placard plastered over another tourist sign for the old Gorrie Airfield near the NT town of Larrimah, 500km south of Darwin, last week advertised “Frans Sweeny Todd pies (sic)”.

The scrappy fake advertisement was apparently in reference to the disappearance of Larrimah resident Paddy Moriarty and a rumour around town that he had ended up in Ms Hodgetts’ famous buffalo, crocodile and camel pies.

Ms Hodgetts, 75, is well aware of the gossip about her pies but denies any involvement with Paddy’s disappearance.

In the 150-year-old stage musical Sweeney Todd, adapted into a 2007 film starring Johnny Depp, the titular character’s partner in crime, Mrs Lovett, regularly turned his victims who had wandered into his barber shop into meat pies.

Ms Hodgetts, 75, yesterday told The Australian she would send her gardener Owen to take the sign down.

“It wasn’t up there when I went to town last a fortnight ago,” she said. “I’ll take it down because it’s not very funny, is it?”

Ms Hodgetts brushes off the rumours about her pies and says she’s had her busiest April ever.

“I’ve got people coming in and asking me for Paddy pies and I tell them, ‘no, I do waffle pies now’,” she said.

Helena Bonham-Carter is the film Sweeney Todd, serving her infamous meat pies. Picture: Supplied.

Some of Larrimah’s 11 local residents believe Ms Hodgetts had something to do with 71-year-old Mr Moriarty’s disappearance on December 16 last year.

A long-running feud between the outback town’s two colourful characters, and police raids on her home, which doubles as the tea house, sparked the rumours that she may have been involved.

As with any missing-person case, police are looking at a number of possibilities and have investigated all those with an association to Paddy. Theories range from foul play to an unfortunate meeting with one of the many sink holes that dot the landscape around Larrimah.

Ms Hodgetts is adamant she had nothing to do with his disappearance, offering the theory that he became lost in the bush when his dog ran off chasing kangaroos.

Mr Moriarty’s kelpie, Kellie, has not been seen since he vanished.

Larrimah characters

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Ms Hodgetts yesterday blamed the operators of the town’s pub, who also have an ongoing feud with her, for putting the sign up.

“It’s probably the pub here at Larrimah, because everybody else is behind me,” she said. “I’m having trouble with them because I’ve been really busy with my business and they don’t like it. They are the ones who stuck the knife into me.”

Northern Territory police did not say whether or not the sign was still standing or being investigated.

Reviews of Fran’s Devonshire Tea House on Facebook and Trip­Advisor describe Ms Hodgetts’ unpredictable outbursts.

■ The investigation into Paddy Moriarty’s disappearance is ongoing. If you travelled through Larrimah on December 16, 2017, or have any information about Paddy’s life or disappearance, please call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

■ The podcast series Lost in Larrimah was produced by The Australian in conjunction with Bond University.