‘People think I’m some kind of monster and I am not. I will prove it’
Speaking to the Sunday World this week ahead of a hearing that could land him behind bars when sentenced next month, he denied he was a “monster”.
And he claimed his mental health is suffering as a consequence of his current circumstances and that he now takes medication for anxiety.
The 34-year-old, who stands just under seven foot tall, claimed he had been suffering since the court case.
“My life is a mess at the minute, I am being harassed, I have people outside my house at night, my car was destroyed and I am being trolled on the internet, yeah, trolled is the right word.
“People think I am some kind of monster and I am not. I will prove that,” he told the Sunday World.
“This is so stressful, I have had to go to the doctors for diazepam because I’m so anxious.
O’Hagan won the Ireland’s Strongest Man contest in 2015
“That’s all I can say about it now, it’s in the hands of my solicitor who I will get to contact you,” he said.
O’Hagan was due to go on trial two weeks ago, but after a jury was sworn in, defence KC Eugene Grant requested for his client to be rearraigned on six of the charges against him.
O’Hagan, from Laurencetown, Co Down, entered guilty pleas to two counts of common assault of his ex-partner and two of causing criminal damage to her car, as well as single charges of harassment and driving dangerously on Meadow Bank in Banbridge, all committed between June 10-15 last year.
Following the admissions, prosecuting KC Geraldine McCullough asked for further charges of robbery and a domestic abuse offence to be marked as “left on the books”, which was granted.
O’Hagan was freed on bail to allow probation to compile a pre-sentence report, and will face sentencing on July 1.
Before ending the conversation, Sean O’Hagan spoke of his pride as a Strongman of Ireland and boasted of his achievements.
“I am an Irishman through and through, there is no north or south to me,” he said.
“To me my sport is like rugby, it’s one island. I compete for the whole of Ireland and I am proud and good at it. I am a record breaker.
“I have competed worldwide as a Viking and as a Strongman. I am unbeaten and I want to keep on competing for my country,” he added.
Sean O’Hagan
Just last month Judge Ramsey, sitting in Newry Court, varied O’Hagan’s bail conditions to allow him to travel to the Caribbean to compete in the strongman champions league (SCL) which is shown on Amazon Prime TV.
The competition in Fort-de-France on the beautiful Caribbean island of Martinique was the first of a dozen rounds of the SCL and could potentially see O’Hagan travel around the world to compete in the Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Cyprus, England, Finland and South Africa before the final in November.
If he manages to top the league, O’Hagan stands to win $350,000.
His first major success was becoming Ulster’s Strongest Man in 2014 when he was 24 years old, making him the competition’s youngest winner. He followed that up by winning Ireland’s Strongest Man in 2015.
In 2017, he qualified for the Strongman Champions League World Finals in Mexico.
After 18 matches across the globe, with his best finish being forth, he finished ninth in the world final and jumped to 20th strongest man in the world rankings.
O’Hagan won the 2020 World’s Strongest Viking competition in Fefor, Norway.