Farmer fined €5k for obstructing work of department vet

A FARMER who obstructed a vet’s examination of his cattle for the Department of Agriculture shouted abusive and sexually insulting comments during the incident and yesterday he was given a suspended nine-month jail sentence and €5,000 in fines for the obstruction and other offences.

Judge Patrick J. Moran told Denis McCarthy, 67, The Island, Newmarket, Co Cork, that the only reason he was not jailing him was because of his age.

“I am concerned about your behaviour and your attitude towards the Department of Agriculture and their officers and indeed towards the guards… Every other farmer in the country allows them on their land, or most of them do,” the judge said.

McCarthy went to trial on the obstruction charge related to April 23, 2008, and the jury convicted him of the offence. Forcing that matter to trial at enormous cost to the state was “sheer blaggarding” by the accused, Judge Moran said.

The judge noted that he pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to have animals tagged, one of failing to comply with a requirement to have them tested and one of giving a false date of birth for an animal.

On each of the five counts the judge fined him €1,000 and he imposed the suspended sentence in addition on the obstruction charge.

Veterinary inspector for the Department of Agriculture, Brian Flaherty, said, during the trial: “He (McCarthy) prevented me from opening the gate to allow the animals to go into the crush. With the assistance of colleagues, by sheer force, we pulled the gate open.

“Mr McCarthy lay down inside the crush once I opened the gate. We couldn’t put the cattle in on top of Mr McCarthy. He was screaming and shouting and complaining that he had been hurt. We had a large group of gardaí with us. In fact the gardaí summoned reinforcements,” Mr Flaherty said.

The inspector said the reason the examination for tags was carried out in the first place was his suspicion that the animals had not been tagged and had not been tested for TB.

Another veterinary inspector, Louis O’Riordan, said: “We were subjected to incessant vitriol of a personal nature and some of it of a sexual nature, referring to the wife of one of the officers.”