The High Court has awarded farmer Fergus Malone €75,000 after finding Edenderry Livestock Mart Limited negligent over a bull attack at its Edenderry premises in August 2017.
Mr Justice Ferriter ruled that the mart’s employee turned cattle back into a holding pen while Malone was helping drive other animals out of it. One young bull became agitated and charged at him. The judge accepted Malone’s account that he used his ash stick only in self-defence after the bull charged, rejecting the defence allegation that he provoked the attack by striking the animal first.
The accident happened on 5 August 2017, when Malone was helping a mart employee handle cattle belonging to his brother. An animal blocked the chute used to check and stamp cattle before they were moved to the sales ring. The employee sent animals back through an open gate into the holding pen, while Malone was still there helping direct cattle out.
The judge accepted agricultural consultant James Kirwan’s evidence that the safe response was to close the gate to the holding pen and manage the cattle in the runway until they settled. The mart’s employee accepted that sending cattle back into a pen where someone was driving animals out was not a safe system. The court found the mart negligent for failing to use the safer procedure.
Five witnesses for the mart said Malone had hit the bull before it charged. The judge found material differences in their accounts and considered several aspects unreliable, while making clear he was not finding that any witness had deliberately misled the court. He also rejected evidence that the bull had recently been dehorned; Malone’s brother said it had been dehorned five or six months earlier.
The court found Malone was not contributorily negligent. He had entered the pen at the employee’s request, and the judge found there was no feasible way for him to escape once the bull charged.
Malone suffered five broken ribs and soft tissue injuries, including damage affecting his left shoulder and arm. He also experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms and sleep problems. The judge awarded €45,000 for pain and suffering to date and €30,000 for future pain and suffering. No special damages were awarded. The judgment applied the damages principles in force before the Personal Injuries Guidelines were introduced.