Two men working for a Dublin repossession company were told to strip and get in a pen with a wild boar after a confrontation with a farmer, reports the Independent.

Patrick Tighe and Tim Mulvey, employes of Assets Security in Don Laoighire, went to JAC Pigs Ltd, the Connaughton family pig business where they were imprisoned and threatened by Donal Connaughton. The two men had gone to repossess a generator and power washer on April 29, 2012.  They were allowed to leave after they said a prayer. The Connaughton's alleged they were assaulted by the men after their arrival to the farm.

When they arrived Tighe waited in the truck while Mulvey went to the Connaughton residence. Mulvey was allegedly kicked and punched as he tried to return to the company truck. When Tighe jumped out of the truck to try to help, Mrs. Margaret Connaughton tried to steal the keys. From there things only got worse. 

Tighe says that Connaughton said they would be “lucky to get out alive” and “we had met the devil and he told me he would take my head off and eat it. He said if we were willing to strip we could walk down the road naked.” They refused and asked to be allowed to leave.

Connaughton told one of the farm workers to bring out a boar and to “fire her up.” The boar became agitated after being prodded. Connaughton asked which one of them was man enough to go in the pen with the animal and said that the boar would show them what happens to inmates in prison.

Tighe and Mulvey asked again to leave and were allowed to leave after they got down on their knees and said the “Our Father.” During the end of the prayer Connaughton said they should pay special attention to the prayer’s reference to “trespass”.  Connaughton impounded their truck because they caught him “on a good day” and they walked off the property and called the police.

Connaughton told the police in a statement that he was surprised to meet repossession workers because he had worked out a deal with the company. He alleges that he was assaulted while he walked down the yard and his wife suffered a hand injury when Tighe slammed the truck door.

Tighe, who is currently undergoing treatment for post traumatic stress and Mulvey told their story to the Longford Circuit Court. They told Judge Anthony Hunt that they feared for their lives after going to the Connaughton farm. Donal Connaughton faces eight charges and his wife faces six. The charges include false imprisonment, threatening to kill or harm, and assault.

On December 13 the jury listened to a 30 minute clip of the heated exchange which Mulvey had recorded on his cell phone. The trial resumed on Friday, December 14 and is expected to continue until the end of next week.