Court postpones tribunal inquiry

AN INQUIRY by the Morris Tribunal into the circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of seven people at Burnfoot, Co Donegal, in May 1998 has been postponed by the Supreme Court pending the outcome of a Detective Sergeant’s legal challenge to that inquiry.

Det Sgt John White, with an address at Ballybofey, Co Donegal, claims that if the tribunal proceeds now with a private hearing of its Burnfoot module, this will prejudice his entitlement to a fair trial on a charge, imposed against him in 2001, of planting a firearms at a Traveller’s camp at Burnfoot in May 1998.

He claims the module will address the same issues as in the criminal proceedings against him and would give the prosecution “a dry run” for the criminal proceedings and prejudice his right to cross-examine.