A dairy farmer accused of several breaches of animal welfare laws who was jailed in March pending his trial was subsequently re-released on bail at the High Court since, Roscommon Circuit Court heard on Wednesday.

Mr Seán Coughlan of Cum, Laherdane, Ballina, Co Mayo – who was jailed on 26 March for breaches of his bail conditions – is facing 38 charges of animal neglect on his farm at Laragan, Elphin, Co Roscommon in late 2022, while a further 36 charges before the court concern his company Coughlan Farming Limited. Mr Coughlan denies the charges.

The farmer, who was represented by a “number of solicitors previously” in the case had new legal representation, having represented himself at the March hearings which saw him jailed.

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Mr Coughlan’s stint in jail came when the Director for Public Prosecutions proved that he had failed to abide by the terms of bail when the case was last before Roscommon Circuit Court.

Declined

The farmer had declined to commit to abide by an amended set of bail conditions at this hearing in March which included him being unable to sell meat or milk from untagged animals and that he would have had to commission weekly expert reports on the health of the herd in Roscommon.

The circumstances around his re-admission to bail at the High Court were not discussed on Wednesday.

This new legal team stated on Wednesday that it had received a copy of the prosecution’s book of evidence that morning but had most of the evidence by way of a digital file before this.

Mr Coughlan’s barrister Fergal McMurrow told the judge that an expert report will be compiled as part of his client’s defence.

It is expected that the trial will kick off in four months’ time and last four weeks.