Judge urged to dismiss case against farmer who flung 'bag of dung' at Minister of State

A farmer who is accused of assaulting Minister of State Anne Rabbitte when throwing a bag of cow dung at her at a public meeting told gardai he went to the meeting “with no intention to harm anyone”.

In a prepared statement to gardai regarding the events at a public meeting at O’Sullivan’s hotel in Gort, County Galway on January 4, 2023 concerning a planned biogas plant for Gort, Joseph Baldwin recalled saying before throwing the first bag of cow dung in the direction of Ciaran Cannon TD  “if they are going to bring shit into the town here is some for ye.”

Mr Baldwin said that the first bag fell two to three feet from Deputy Cannon and he that threw the second bag in the direction of Ms Rabbitte and “it brushed off someone else and fell on the floor near her”.

Mr Baldwin said that earlier that day “I went down to the farmyard and put dry cow dung into ziplock bags. There was no smell or odour off the bags and I made sure that they were secure."

He added: “They were very light - like a featherweight. I thought all the TDs and councillors would be at the top table where I could leave the bags in front of them.”

On why he decided to bring the bags, he said: ”On the evening in question I said to myself, ‘I have had enough’, something had to be done for them to listen and show them that it was unacceptable for the community to be treated like this.”

He said: “I went to that meeting with no intention to harm anyone. In my own mind, I thought that it might be a way of getting through to two Government TDs that they were clearly not helping or listening to the people of our own community.”

In his statement, he added: “I am not apologising because I believe that all I was doing was making the views of the community known and I didn’t hurt anybody in the process. I am just a normal, decent person thinking about my community and the people who live in it.

However, earlier in evidence during Friday's contested hearing, Ms Rabbitte - a Galway East TD and Minister of State at the Deptartment of Health and at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth - wept tears in the witness box as she recounted the incident at the packed public meeting.

She told the court that she was “picked out” by Joseph Baldwin.

“There was no safety. I didn’t feel safe in a public space with the people that elected me," she said adding: “I felt I was the most vulnerable person in the room.”

Ms Rabbitte told the court that she "didn’t feel protected or feel safe there" and adding: "I felt I was being attacked. My space was invaded. We all have buffer zones but my buffer zone was totally removed. I defended myself as best I could. I felt that I was being struck.”

Asked why she later went to the gardai that night after the public meeting, Ms Rabbitte said: “There is a line and I felt it was crossed that night and no one spoke up for me and I had to speak up for myself that night.”

In the case, Mr Baldwin, aged 39, of Ballyaneen, Gort, County Galway denies assaulting Anne Rabbitte on January 4, 2023 at the public meeting, contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

Recounting the incident, the Galway East TD said that she saw a man had flung a bag of contents towards her constituency colleague, Ciaran Cannon.

CCTV footage played to the court showed Mr Baldwin saying “here is a bag of cow shite for you” before throwing the bag in the direction of Deputy Cannon. The bag fell at the feet of Deputy Cannon.

After witnessing Mr Baldwin throwing the bag towards Deputy Cannon, Ms Rabbitte told the court that she thought “Jesus. God help us. What is after happening to Ciaran? How will he recover from that one?”

The CCTV footage showed Mr Baldwin turn and then throw a bag in the direction of the Minister of State who said that the man “was incredibly angry, his face was red”.

She added: “The white of his eyes I won’t forget.”

Ms Rabbitte said that the man said to her "'I am not forgetting about you, there is one for you Rabbitte' and then he flung a bag as well.”

After the bag fell on the ground beside her, Ms Rabbitte said: “I didn’t know if the two legs were going to go from under me,” adding: “Someone picked it up and said that it was a bag of shit.”

In her evidence, she added:  “I wanted to scream my head off because no one said that what was happening was wrong.

I grabbed myself - no one said to me that it was wrong, no one said what happened was wrong. No one said what happened to Ciaran Cannon or myself was wrong.”

Ms Rabbitte said that she distracted herself at the meeting by taking out her phone and sending out a tweet “I can’t believe a bag of sh1t has been thrown at me”.

On going to the local garda station to have what occurred ‘noted’, Ms Rabbitte said: “It is tough we do what we do but I love it and it is a privilege and I apologise judge to be bawlin’ my way through it, but someone had to speak up.”

Solicitor for Mr Baldwin, Daragh Hassett said that eight eye witnesses who were present on the night gave statements to the gardai said that the bag thrown by Mr Baldwin did not hit Ms Rabbitte.

Mr Hassett said that Ms Rabbitte had recoiled from her statement to gardai where she said that the bag hit her on the torso and now says she felt it hit her. 

"It is quite clear from the footage that no bag struck you at all," he put it to her.

“I still feel it. You can’t deny me my feelings," she replied.

Mr Hassett told Ms Rabbitte, after hearing her evidence, that she is "a very unreliable historian” and he described her direct evidence as "quite emotive". 

During cross examination, Mr Hassett put it to the witness: "This isn't the Dail now, you can't be making speeches."

HE said that Ms Rabbitte told gardai that the bag had struck Deputy Cannon and he pointed out Deputy Cannon had told gardai that the bag did not hit him but instead landed at his feet.

Mr Hassett said that her statement to gardai that she was struck by the bag was “inaccurate and misleading” when seen alongside the CCTV evidence which shows that the bag did not hit her.

Mr Hassett said: “It is not assault.” 

At the end of the State’s case against Mr Baldwin, Mr Hassett made an application that the assault case against Mr Baldwin be dismissed.

Counsel for the State, Geri Silke BL conceded that Ms Rabbitte was incorrect to say to gardai that the bag struck her but argued that the assault charge stood on the apprehension ground.

Ms Silke said: “She is obviously mistaken about the bag hitting her. She felt that it hit her and she believed it hit her."

Mr Hassett submitted that Ms Rabbitte’s credibility “is shot”.

He said: “Her version of events has turned on its head in 20 months. She told the gardai with absolute certainty that she was struck by a bag on her right upper body.”

He said: “The CCTV footage clears my client as no bag hit Ms Rabbitte."

He further added: ”Her demeanour in the witness box was emotional from the get go with Ms Silke. As soon as the white flag dropped she was in tears and under cross examination there wasn’t a tear to be shed and she was able to robustly interact with me in terms of her answers because I put it to her repeatedly that what she said did not stack up.”

Mr Hassett said that Ms Rabbitte has changed her story to suit the narrative because she knows that camera proves that nothing struck her and nothing struck Ciaran Cannon.

The solicitor said that CCTV evidence which shows that the bags did not hit Deputy Cannon or Deputy Rabbitte only became available in January of this year - months after the DPP directed to prosecute Mr Baldwin for assault.

Mr Hassett argued that if the DPP had that footage and Ms Rabbitte’s version of events today, his client would not have been prosecuted for assault.

He said: “Nothing struck her. She was not assaulted.” 

He noted that Ms Rabbitte told the gardai that the bag hit her on the shoulder and the camera footage “has proven Ms Rabbitte did not tell the gardai the truth”.

Mr Hassett said: “I am not condoning Mr Baldwin’s gesture. It might have been stupid, or silly but  he didn’t break the law.

Judge Alec Gabbett adjourned the case to Ennis District Court on October 2 where, he said, he will deliver his ruling on the defence application to dismiss the case.