Garda team knew confession was false, tribunal told

THE entire garda detective team probing Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron’s death knew a murder confession was false, disgraced ex-garda superintendent Kevin Lennon told a garda corruption inquiry yesterday.

Mr Lennon said the Morris Tribunal officers investigating Richie Barron’s death were aware a statement from Raphoe publican Frank McBrearty jnr admitting to murder was bogus.

“You all knew that this alleged statement was fraud,” Lennon said, cross-examining his one-time colleague, Superintedent Joe Shelly.

Supt Shelly, one of the county’s top officers at the time, rejected the claim and said his team had no idea the confession had been made up.

“There was never anything like that said, I never said anything like that. Nobody smelt a rat, no absolutely not,” he said.

Lennon was dismissed from the force in the wake of a damning Morris Tribunal report which found he orchestrated hoax IRA arms dumps across Donegal during the 1990s.

Mr Justice Frederick Morris, tribunal chairman, questioned why the shocking allegation had not been made at previous hearings when other officers had taken the stand.

The Morris Tribunal is examining allegations of garda corruption in Co Donegal during the early 1990s.

The current module, due to finish at the beginning of next year, is investigating the events surrounding the apparent hit-and-run death of Richie Barron in October 1996.