A judge has convicted a Gort farmer of assaulting Junior Minister Anne Rabbitte by throwing a sealed bag of cow dung towards her at a public meeting.

At Ennis District Court today, 39 year old Joseph Baldwin was found guilty of the assault at a public meeting at O Sullivans Hotel in Gort on January 4th last year.

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Speaking outside Ennis court house this afternoon, Minister Rabbitte acknowledged that being a politician, one expects the rough and tumble of debate at all times.

But she said the line was crossed that night, she’s glad the case has been brought to a conclusion, and this is the end of it as far as she’s concerned.

Judge Alec Gabbett adjourned sentencing of Joseph Baldwin to December, to allow him engage with Probation Services so a report can be completed.

Earlier today, Judge Gabbett said the best evidence in the case was the CCTV which showed that the sealed bag of cow dung did not hit Minister Rabbitte, but shows her moving to avoid it.

In evidence last month, Minister Rabbitte wept in the witness box as she recalled the incident, during which a bag was thrown in the direction of Deputy Ciaran Cannon but fell short.

Minister Rabbitte claims that Mr. Baldwin then said “‘I am not forgetting about you, there is one for you Rabbitte” and then he flung a bag towards her.

Mr Baldwin contends he never intended to harm anyone and thought it might be a way of getting through to two Government TDs that they were not helping or listening to the community.

He said: “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.”

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