Money pressures led to assault

A Longford pig farmer who assaulted two men from a repossession company and threatened that they would be raped by an agitated boar was under serious financial pressure at the time, a court has been told.

Donal Connaughton told the men he was the devil, that he would rip their heads off, and that they would be lucky to get out of his farm alive, Portlaoise Circuit Court heard yesterday when the 55-year-old was before the court for sentencing.

Conor Devally, defending, said Connaughton had built up a substantial pig farm, but due to events locally and internationally he was under severe pressure from a number of financial institutions when the incident happened in 2010.