The High Court found that a Ballinrobe mart failed to assign employees specifically to supervise or assist with cattle loading, but held farmer Andrew McTigue 75% responsible for the incident in which a cow knocked him down. The court apportioned the remaining 25% to the mart operator and assessed damages at €24,000.
Mr Justice Tony O’Connor delivered judgment in Galway on 22 June 2017, after a three-day trial. He found that the mart had abrogated its duty by not tasking staff to assist new owners loading cattle. The court said staff assigned to the loading area could have intervened as events unfolded.
The incident happened on 15 June 2011, when Mr McTigue returned to the mart to collect cattle he had bought. As he tried to load a cow and her young calf, the cow knocked him down. Cattle agent Kieran Dixon pulled him from the pen and called for help.
The judge accepted Mr Dixon’s evidence that Mr McTigue became impatient when the cow would not enter the trailer, went to his jeep for a metal bar and abused the cow before she forced him away from the calf. The judge preferred Mr Dixon’s account to Mr McTigue’s evidence about what he used, finding that the farmer’s account affected his credibility. He did not decide whether Mr McTigue had deliberately contrived the handle later produced in court.
The court found that Mr McTigue could have sought help and that his treatment of the cow prompted her foreseeable protective reaction. But it also found the mart’s failure to assign staff contributed to the dangerous situation. The judge said that with employees specifically tasked to assist near the loading bays, neither Mr McTigue nor Mr Dixon would probably have ended up in the position they did.
Mr McTigue suffered severe fractures to his right forearm, requiring surgery and a skin graft. The court assessed general damages at €65,000 for the period from 2011 to judgment and €30,000 for the future, and recorded agreed special damages of €1,000. After apportioning liability, it concluded that he was entitled to €24,000.
At the parties’ request, the court deferred making an order until they agreed its terms. On 28 June 2017, an order was made by consent striking out the proceedings with no further order.