By Gordon Deegan

A farmer told a neighbouring farmer “I will get you” after accusing him of stealing his missing dog as part of long running ill-feeling between the two, a court has heard.

At Gort District Court, Judge Adrian Harris found Brian Gill (44) of Cahermore, Kinvara, Co. Galway guilty of engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting words against Brian Murphy with intent to provoke a breach of the peace in two separate incidents on May 21, 2025 and February 2 of this year.

Judge Harris did not convict Gill of either offence and instead imposed the Probation Act for one year and told Gill that if the Probation Service recommends that he complete an anger management course he must do so.

Judge Harris said that there is a context to the offences and there is clearly ill feeling between Gill and Murphy going back some time.

He said that Gill should not engage in behaviour that amounts to these offences.

Gill told the court that his dog went missing on May 19, 2025 "and I received a phone call on July 1 to say that the dog is 35km away".

He said: “That dog did not walk 35 kilometres.”

Court

As part of his evidence concerning the May 21, 2025 offence at Caherawoneen South, Kinvara, Brian Murphy told the court that Gill accused him of stealing his dog and said"I will get you” when the two met as they were both driving at around 9pm on a narrow road.

Murphy told the court: "I didn’t know anything about the dog" and that he did not say a word to Gill.

Counsel for Gill, barrister Martin Durack, said that there was agrarian background to the incident and there has "been disputes in the past regarding fences etc” concerning the two men.

In cross examination, Durack put it to Murphy “there is animosity between you and Mr Gill? Ye are not on each other’s Christmas card list?”.

In reply, Murphy said: “Every time I am on the road he causes trouble.”

In evidence, Gill denied threatening Murphy and that he only asked him where his dog was and in response he said that Murphy called him a fool.

Gill said that in reply he told Murphy “you are the only fool who sells top soil from his farm”.

Dog

Asked did he at any time threaten Brian Murphy, Gill said that he did not.

Gill said that he was told by three different people that the dog was spotted in the back of Murphy’s yard but he declined to identify any of the three.

Gill also said that Murphy “had a sarcastic smile on his face as he usually does and that raised my suspicions”.

Gill added: “He knew something about the dog - I don’t think he had the dog because the dog wouldn’t have gone to him.”

He added that his dog "is a one person dog - it is just me he wants and that’s it."

Gill said that there was “a sentimental attachment to the dog and there was a bit of history to him and I would like to leave at that”.

Under cross examination from Insp. Daragh Browne, Gill said that he was angry because this has been going on for the past 10 years with Murphy.

The Kinvara farmer told Judge Harris “this is the 15th time I have been court over this fella - directly or indirectly”.

Insp. Browne told the court that to this day Gill “is still very frustrated and still believes to this day that someone removed the dog”.

Durack said that while Gill’s language may have been brusque, “but there was no threat and no intention to cause a breach of the peace”.