Gardaí not encouraged to be aggressive

A FORMER superintendent denied at the Morris Tribunal that gardaí had ever been encouraged to step outside the rules by using aggressive interview techniques to break people down in custody.

John McGinley, who retired after being singled out for criticism in a report from the tribunal, said Det Sgt John White had not been given instructions to engage in tough interviews to unearth details of cattle dealer Richie Barron's death.

"There was no instruction given to anybody to go outside the just treatment of persons in custody regulations, or Criminal Justice Act of '84, in any shape or form," he said.