Three men, one of them from Donegal, will be sentenced next month for their roles in a sustained attack on security workers at a repossessed farmhouse in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon.
Their trial heard how up to forty masked men, armed with hurleys, baseball bats, a meat cleaver and a chainsaw, stormed the house in December 2018.
Patrick J Sweeney (44), a builder from High Cairn, Ramelton, Co Donegal; Mayo farmer Martin O’Toole (58) of Stripe in Irishtown,; and cattle farmer Paul Beirne (56) of Croghan, Boyle, Co Roscommon, were found guilty of various charges, including false imprisonment and assault causing harm, arising out of what was described as a “sustained and brutal attack” at a farmhouse in Strokestown that was in the process of being repossessed in late 2018.
One of the injured security guards described seeing lights in the distance before some locked gates were rammed. Up to 40 masked men then spilled out of a lorry.
A security dog was beaten unconscious, three vans were set on fire, the front door of the property was smashed in with a sledgehammer, and four security men were savagely beaten. A shotgun was put to one of their heads.
The three men, who were convicted following a 50-day trial, will be sentenced on July 28th.
