AN AUCTIONEER at a sheep mart beat up a man who had accused him of bringing the hammer down on a sale too quickly, a court heard yesterday.
Declan Robinson (28), of Larganreagh, Downings, Co Donegal, was convicted of assaulting Paul Hegarty after a dispute over an auction at Bonagee mart outside Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Letterkenny District Court heard from Garda Peter Ryan that CCTV footage showed Mr Hegarty had been punched between 30 and 40 times by Robinson and was also kicked a number of times.
A hospital report showed the victim had a swollen skull, two black eyes, a broken tooth and a number of face lacerations.
Solicitor for the accused Carrie Hegarty told the court the attack was as a result of an earlier altercation at Bonagee mart. Mr Hegarty had accused his attacker of bringing down the auctioneer’s hammer on the sale of three sheep before he could bid on them.
Ms Hegarty said her client had never been in trouble before, and had done extensive work for charity as an auctioneer. He once raised €60,000 for charity during a “crazy auction”.
She said that shortly after the attack Robinson had left Bonagee mart where he had been employed, and was now jobless.
Judge Paul Kelly said this was a violent assault, considering the number of punches thrown. “Irrespective of the provocation, there was a lot to this. He punched him between 30 and 40 times. This was a violent assault.”
He adjourned the case until June 13th for a community service report to see if Robinson was suitable to serve 80 hours’ community service.
However, he warned Robinson that because of the seriousness of the assault he could still be facing a heavier penalty.