A farmer has been jailed for three years for a brutal and "premeditated" assault on his neighbour in Monaghan 10 years ago. Eugene Hanratty Snr (63) of Castleblayney Road, Crossmaglen, Armagh was convicted by a jury following a trial last month.
He had pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm at Castleblayney, Co Monaghan on November the 24th 2012. Detective Garda Paul Everard told the court that on the Saturday afternoon of the attack, Martin McAllister and his wife were driving at 4.20pm in Castleblayney on their way to Crossmaglen when a vehicle approached with its full headlights on.
Mr McAllister told the trial that he felt his path was blocked by the other vehicle and he couldn't drive past it. He then recognised the occupants of the car as being father and son, Eugene Hanratty Snr and his son Eugene Jnr.
The defendant got out of his car and began an assault on Mr McAllister in his vehicle, the trial heard. The victim said that Hanratty punched him a number of times in the head, pulled him down by the hair and kicked him before the defendant dragged him out of the vehicle.
Mr McAlister told the trial that the assault continued outside the car, with Hanratty continually kicking him while he was on the ground. His right arm was stamped on and he went in and out of consciousness.
He testified that Hanratty Snr was aware he was a musician so he felt the stamping on his arm was significant in this regard. The victim suffered multiple broken bones in his face, both his eye sockets were broken and he has been left with a permanent loss of his peripheral vision.
He has been treated numerous times but without success and the loss of his peripheral vision "impinges on my everyday life". During today's sentencing, Judge Melanie Greally said that the jury rejected Hanratty's defence of justified use of force which maintained that the violence arose as a result of a physical altercation following a dispute in relation to duck shooting rights on local lands.
She said the court was sentencing Hanratty on the basis of no information of any long standing history between the parties and treating the assault as unprovoked and pre-meditated.
She said the aggravating factors included this clear pre-meditation; the severity and brutality of the violence; the fact that most of the blows, including kicks, were directed at the victim's head and face; and the fact that Hanratty stamped on the victim's arm knowing the victim is a musician.
The Judge highlighted how she was also taking into consideration the adverse effects of the assault on the quality of life of the victim and his family and the fact that the assault was carried out in front of the man's wife.
Taking all these mitigating factors into consideration, Judge Greally set a sentence of four years and suspended the final year on condition that he have no contact with Mr McAllister or his family for the next decade.
