Masked 'blind' man found in cattle barn with vet’s rubber glove and wooden broom shaft

When a farmer in Northern Ireland went to investigate noises in his barn during the early hours of the morning, he found a ‘blind’ man wearing a balaclava, a veterinary inspection glove and carrying a wooden broom shaft. The “bizarre and unusual” case was heard before Omagh Crown Court last week when Anthony Morris (44), of Bradkeel Road, Plumbridge, faced a charge of intending to cause damage to cattle. Morris also had a torch strapped to his head and was carrying a piece of rope. He attempted to hide himself when the farmer, a former employer of Morris, and his brother entered the barn at 2am in the morning. However, they managed to drag Morris over the top of a cattle pen and pin him down on silage while they waited for police to arrive.

While he was being held, the intruder spoke in a ‘foreign accent’ saying, “Me-me-steal-ear-tags. Me-me-look-at-tags.” Police officers arrived at the scene and removed the balaclava to reveal Morris who had worked for the farmer in the past. He was wearing a body warmer that he stole from the farmer’s lorry a number of weeks earlier and was also carrying a penknife. The farmer recognised his body warmer due to the presence of sheep’s wool under a piece of Velcro on its left side, stains on the collar and a faulty zipper. In a day-long trial, described by a defence barrister as a “strange and unusual case,” Morris was found guilty of possessing a pen knife, an inspection glove, a wooden shaft and a piece of blue rope with the intent of causing damage to cattle, as well as stealing a body warmer and a Solar calculator that was in its pocket.



During the trial Morris claimed: his balaclava, made from the leg of old tracksuit bottoms, was a “face warmer” he had lifted by mistake instead of a woollen cap; the wooden shaft was to help him keep his balance because medication made him dizzy; the rubber glove was already in the body warmer and he used it to clean fungi out of a water barrel; and he always carries a pen knife to open food for his 17 cats. Morris was originally questioned about ‘cruelty to animals.’ However, none of the cattle in the barn were injured and it was not stated in Omagh Crown Court what he specifically intended to do to the animals. During the trial he walked with the aid of a stick and claimed to be totally blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other. Morris said that he can only see “black blobs” and was diagnosed with limited sight in 2005. However during the trial it emerged that he had a collision on his motorbike in 2008.

He blamed his presence in the barn on a mystery man who Morris said “forced” him to go to look at ear tags on the cattle because he said the farmer had stolen three cows from him. Morris said in court the unnamed man who was “a blast from the past” had threatened his 14-year-old son and turned up at his house where he had touched him “with something metal”. The jury took approximately one hour to reach their verdict. They found Morris guilty on both counts. It was then revealed that he has an extensive criminal record, with convictions for burglary, firearms, six theft offences and road traffic violations. He will be sentenced in Derry Crown Court on April 17. Morris was allowed to remain on bail but was warned by Judge Phillip Babington, “You should not take that as an indication of what will happen to you.”