A District Court judge hasapplied the Probation Act in the case of a farmer who became so ill with depression that he was unable to look after his cattle, and 60 of them starved to death on his farm.
Judge Michael Pattwell said the case of Patrick O'Sullivan (43), a father of two, from Shanballymore, Co Cork, was tragic for a number of reasons after hearing how the farmer had become depressed and started neglecting the animals.
"It happened out of illness, the sort of illness that can befall any of us, people from any walk of life reaching the stage they can no longer cope," Judge Pattwell said at the earlier hearing before appealing to the press to show some compassion for the accused.
O'Sullivan had pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to make sure that animals and poultry did not have access to the carcasses of the dead animals on his farm and to a second charge of disposing of the waste in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution on March 12th, 2003.