Farmer says he could have died during slash hook assault ‘but for the grace of God’

A farmer has told a court that he believes he would have been killed instantly when he was assaulted by a man armed with a slash hook in a graveyard but for the fact that he was on consecrated ground.

At Gort District Court on Thursday John Connolly (81) recalled the “ferocity” of the attack on him by graveyard owner and fellow farmer Martin O’Shaughnessy (68), of Killina, Gort, on October 1st last.

The court heard Mr O’Shaughnessy, who pleaded guilty to assault, told Mr Connolly “I’m going to cut the f**king head off you” in a row over burial plots.

In a victim impact statement, read out by Judge Patrick Durcan, Mr Connolly said the incident had “caused me great mental anguish”.

“Ever since I have been haunted by the vision of the blade in his hand less than 12 inches from my bare head,” he added. “But for the grace of God and the fact that we were on consecrated ground, I’m convinced that I would have been killed instantly.”

‘Stuff of John B. Keane’

After reading out those lines, Judge Durcan commented that “this is the stuff of John B. Keane”.

Mr O’Shaughnessy’s solicitor Colman Sherry said he “would challenge much of what is in the statement but I’m leaving it to the court to make its own judgment”.

In his statement, Mr Connolly said he managed to grab the slash hook’s handle after having a “burst of energy” and that Mr O’Shaughnessy fell to the ground.

“We both got to our feet and Mr O’Shaughnessy went to his jeep, came with a strimmer and proceeded to strim the grassy grave.”

He said Mr O’Shaughnessy apologised for what had happened in the following days and that he accepted the apology.

Sgt Daithí Cronin told the court there had been a dispute between the two men and others in relation to burial plots at the graveyard. He said that what had occurred was a technical assault and it was over within seconds.

‘History’

Mr Sherry told the court there was “history” in the case and very few burial plots were left in the graveyard. Three generations of Mr O’Shaughnessy’s family are buried there and he has looked after the graveyard for years, he added.

“He pleaded guilty on the very first day. He has no previous convictions. He is extremely contrite and has apologised to all of the parties,” Mr Sherry said. “The only person who got injured was the defendant himself when he fell back.”

Judge Durcan told Mr Connolly that he was going to strike out the case against Mr O’Shaughnessy, who he commended for apologising to Mr Connolly within days of the incident.

“I am not going to have the good name of the community there to be damaged by criminality,” the judge said. “This case is over. Justice is done. This battle is over now.”