Gardaí ‘viewed as being tainted’

PEOPLE have lied in relation to virtually every paragraph of the terms of reference of the Garda corruption tribunal, lead counsel Peter Charleton said yesterday.

Mr Charleton SC told the Morris Tribunal how it was apparent that many people connected to the

Donegal affair have become extremely embittered.

Some felt that many conspiracies had been hatched to damn their reputation, or to fix them with liability for criminal liability or at least to make their lives very unpleasant.

“With so many rumours and suspicions flying about, people of this county may imagine that the forces of law and order, as represented by An Garda Síochána, have been tainted,” he said.

The job of the tribunal team is do their best to uncover the truth about matters relating to gardaí in the county, said the tribunal counsel.

If there were serious wrongs and mistakes, they could have been cleared up within days and weeks, not be the subject of a series of Garda probes.

Mr Charleton told tribunal chair Mr Justice Frederick Morris: “It seems to us ... that in very many aspects of what you have to enquire into, people have foregone the truth in favour of a fantastic and embittered view of their experiences. Undoubtedly, in some cases, this amounts to self-deceit and the telling of lies to others.”

Mr Justice Morris said it would be quite wrong to regard suspicions arising out of an allegation as fact, that a person has a constitutional right that his or her good name remains intact until the contrary has been proved.

Details of the second Carty report into allegations against gardaí in

Donegal emerged on the first day of the tribunal hearing. The investigation was set up to look into the death of Richard Barron, the Raphoe cattle dealer who was found dead by the side of a road in October 1996.

Further developments soon emerged when the sister of Sheenagh McMahon, the estranged wife of Detective Garda Noel McMahon, made a number of allegations against him. This led the inquiry team to Adrienne McGlinchey, who made further allegations that indicated a conspiracy by gardaí to “plant” substances, materials and ammunition and then report where they could be found with the view to enhancing their professional reputations.

Both Supt Kevin Lennon and Det Garda McMahon have denied all the allegations made against them. During the inquiry, 1,100 people were interviewed and 12 people arrested, including three gardaí.

Two gardaí, who Ms McGlinchey claims Det Garda McMahon said killed Richie Barron, have refused to give an account of their movements on the night Mr Barron was killed.