The Silver Bullet affair began in August 1997, when a petty criminal from Sligo, Bernard Conlon, was found drinking after hours in a Raphoe nightclub owned by the McBrearty family.

A retired detective superintendent, who was criticised in a Morris Tribunal report, today said another officer was engaged in a conspiracy to discredit him over the Silver Bullet affair.

A garda superintendent drafted in to investigate false expenses claims in the Donegal division today denied vital evidence was covered up in a conspiracy to frame a junior officer.

Gardaí took nine months to probe claims a Raphoe man was framed for making sinister death threats with a silver bullet, it emerged today.

LAWYERS for a garda sergeant branded a liar by the Morris Tribunal yesterday said an agenda had been set at the inquiry to destroy the officer.