Gardaí considered asking for a second post mortem

GARDAÍ probing the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron in 1996 considered carrying out a second post mortem examination on his unburied body immediately after his funeral Mass, it emerged yesterday.

The Morris Tribunal heard that the first post mortem examination said a road traffic accident was the likely cause of death but information received by senior officers on the morning of the funeral led them to suspect Mr Barron could have been murdered.

Frantic efforts were then made to contact Dr John Harbison personally to ask him to carry out a second post mortem.

Detective Superintendent John McGinley told the 241st day of the inquiry that the "practical" thing to do at the time was to remove Mr Barron's remains from his uncovered grave and take it to the local morgue for examination by the State Pathologist.

Justice Frederick Morris queried the urgency in contacting Dr Harbison personally as the normal procedure was to firstly make a formal request to gardaí in the Dublin's Harcourt Square.

Justice Morris said that except for the inconvenience and upset that may be caused to the Barron family, "there was no reason why it (Barron's funeral) couldn't be halted."

"The urgency was to get a decision before interment would took place," said Det Supt McGinley, who was a detective inspector at the time.

He added: "the practical thing in the circumstances was to go to the cemetery following the service, inter the coffin without covering it with clay or soil, and when people would go away then, in arrangement with the family, the remains could have been taken to the morgue.

"Give or take, there was probably only an hour to discuss it with the family. There were huge time factors and there wasn't a lot of time to play around with."

Det Supt McGinley said that Supt John J Fitzgerald had earlier attempted to contact Dr Harbison to ask him to travel to Letterkenny for the post mortem.

Peter Charleton, SC for the tribunal, asked the witness that if he had been in charge of the investigation, would he have "insisted" that Dr Harbison attend.

Det Insp McGinley said: "yes."

He said he always believed Mr Barron had died as a result of a road traffic accident until senior officers got information which led them to suspect foul play.

He said of Mr Barron: "this was a man that was going home on an October night.

"He was very drunk. He was lying on the road. It all supported a traffic accident and that's what we believed at the time."

Mr Barron's body was legally exhumed in 2000 and a subsequent inquest delivered an open verdict on his death. Last year, four British and Irish pathologists told the tribunal that a road accident was the most likely cause of his death.

In earlier evidence, Det Insp McGinley said a lot of rumours including gossip from Mr Barron's wake had to be checked out and eliminated in the early days of the investigation.

There were claims that Travellers, rival cattle dealers, members of his own family or "the Russian or French Mafia" had been involved in the Raphoe man's death.