A man in dispute with management of Fermoy Mart on the question of whether cattle for sale had horns went on trial yesterday on a charge of assault on a garda at the mart in March last year.

The lorry driver on trial for assault causing harm to a detective at Fermoy Mart said yesterday that he stabbed the guard repeatedly in the hand with the key to his lorry, but only because he believed the officer was trying to get him out “dead or alive”.

A farmer protesting at Fermoy Mart about cattle with horns allegedly being sold to him caught a detective garda, pulled him in through the window of his truck and stabbed his hand with a metal object, it was claimed on the opening day of a trial yesterday.

A man accused of stabbing a garda during a standoff at a mart has been released on bail after giving a sworn undertaking to stay away from the premises and its staff.