Moygownagh farmer found guilty of assault on sergeant

Man acquitted of assaulting second sergeant

A MOYGOWNAGH farmer who was described as behaving like a ‘wild animal’ during a conflict with gardaí was found guilty of assaulting one garda sergeant but acquitted of assaulting another.
Seamus Murphy of Garrynagran, Moygownagh, Ballina was found guilty by a jury of assaulting Sergeant James Murphy on his farm but was acquitted of a similar charge on Sgt Maria Hayes.
Mr Murphy, a 40-year-old married farming contractor was accused of attacking the two gardaí when they arrived at the entrance of his farm to investigate an alleged incident of dangerous driving. The incident took place around 1am on July 14, 2013.
Mr Murphy pleaded not guilty to assaulting the two gardaí along with one charge of obstructing traffic and one charge of dangerous driving.
The three-day trial, which was heard in Castlebar Circuit Court, heard a number of allegations against Mr Murphy, which included attempting to bite Sgt Murphy’s testicles.
It is alleged that Mr Murphy ‘lost the plot’ when approached by Sergeants Murphy and Hayes and drove his tractor up his driveway while Sgt Murphy was standing on the steps of the cab.
The jury started their deliberations on Friday, July 1, but after they failed to deliver a verdict they were asked to return on Tuesday, July 5, and continue their deliberations. Last Tuesday, the foreman asked Judge Rory MacCabe for the medical report on Sgt Murphy’s injuries before continuing their deliberations.
After just over an hour of deliberations, they returned and recorded unanimous guilty verdicts in the charge of assault on Sgt Murphy and obstruction of traffic but not guilty to the charge of assault on Sgt Hayes and dangerous driving.

Kicking, scraping, biting
During the scuffle which took approximately 30 minutes, Mr Murphy was described as acting ‘like a wild animal’ as he scraped at Sgt Murphy and tried to bite him. Medical evidence read out to the court stated that Sgt Murphy suffered injuries consistent with an assault.
Mr Murphy was also accused of assaulting Sgt Hayes by kicking at her when he was being restrained.
The defendant had denied all the allegations against him and claimed he was the victim of a garda assault and that Sgt Murphy had smashed the window on his cab door without any warning. He also accused Sgt Murphy of striking him with his baton.
The incident arose when gardaí were called after Mr Murphy was accused of using his tractor to obstruct neighbours who were driving behind him. JJ Heffron told the trial that Mr Murphy kept swerving his tractor in and out of the road and also accused him of reversing his tractor at their jeep.
The trial heard that Mr Murphy was in a family dispute with his brother and accused some of his neighbours of using the dispute for their own benefit.
Following the verdicts, Mr Leo Mulrooney, BL for Mr Murphy asked for an adjournment of the sentencing until October to allow time to prepare reports and testimonies. Judge MacCabe agreed to adjourn sentencing until October 11.