Operation Spider a tangled web of intrigue and cover-ups

Seán McCárthaigh analyses an investigation that uncovered much more than gardaí or the public could have imagined

OPERATION Spider the investigation into drug-dealing at Frank Shortt's nightclub in Donegal in 1992 has proven to be one of the most aptly-named garda operations of all time.

However, even the detective who conceived its code name could scarcely have foreseen just how tangled a web of intrigue would emanate from such a seemingly simple operation. And few of those involved in Operation Spider could have guessed that its full ramifications, only now emerging, would also threaten the careers of senior officers.

The story of the gardaí's own role in the activities at the Point Inn, Quigley's Point, Co Donegal, and what followed over the next decade, is a bizarre tale of claim and counterclaim in which the truth has often struggled to come out. It is also a sad litany of ruined careers, broken relationships, alcohol-fuelled rows and damaged lives.

Not even Frank Shortt, the former owner of the Point Inn, whose 1995 conviction for allowing drugs to be sold on his premises was declared a miscarriage of justice by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.

The scale of the wrong against the 67-year-old former publican is one of severe embarrassment to the gardaí as the court found that two senior officers concealed evidence which would have been important for Mr Shortt's defence.

The case also raised serious questions about the conduct of the internal garda inquiry team sent to investigate their own colleagues involved in Operation Spider.

Mr Shortt's vindication came yesterday almost ten years to the exact day of the garda raid on the Point Inn, and the start of a lengthy legal battle to restore his good name.

Two years ago, the court overturned the conviction, which saw Mr Shortt serve 27 months of a three-year sentence in jail. The DPP's decision not to oppose its quashing or seek a retrial indicated to many that the conviction was far from safe.

Although yesterday's decision will probably leave the State liable for a massive compensation payout to Mr Shortt, that is unlikely to mark the end of this most extraordinary case.

The amazing story that acts as a backdrop to the Shortt appeal was detailed in 16 days of evidence earlier this summer at the court.

However, the case received little of the publicity it warranted mainly because it was overshadowed by the competing "attractions" of the general election and the World Cup.

The two events probably proved a welcome distraction for the gardaí in a case that further placed them under the spotlight. It arose during a period of adverse publicity that included the Abbeylara inquiry, the Dame St riots and the High Court case in which the force was forced to apologise for an unprovoked attack on two innocent women on Grafton St.

As a result, sensational claims by Letterkenny woman Adrienne McGlinchey that Detective Garda Noel McMahon whose evidence was pivotal in convicting Mr Shortt had paid her money to buy drugs and plant them at the Point Inn received only minor coverage.

Although she did not go ahead with the plan, Ms McGlinchey told the court that she discovered that McMahon's superior, Superintendent Kevin Lennon, was also aware of the attempt to frame Mr Shortt.

While the claim was denied by both men, the gardaí admitted they had regular contact with Ms McGlinchey, whom they regarded as a reliable informant about the activities of the Provisional IRA.

To some extent, their evidence dovetailed with her bizarre account of her relationship with the two by recounting how she accompanied McMahon and Lennon in unmarked garda cars around Donegal.

Ms McGlinchey said such episodes occasionally involved her being handed the gardaí's firearms in odd behaviour that often coincided with heavy drinking by the trio.

The most dramatic accusation was that the pair orchestrated hoax finds of paramilitary weapons and explosive material around Donegal to enhance their careers within the force.

Crucially, Ms McGlinchey's evidence that McMahon stored bomb-making equipment in his home was supported by the testimony of his estranged wife, Sheenagh McMahon.

Fortunately for the two women, they kept records of their interaction with the two officers, which lent support to evidence that consistently raised eyebrows in the court.

But the garda's problems did not just begin or end with the somewhat unreliable evidence of Ms McGlinchey. Some evidence may have remained permanently concealed but for marital problems which arose in the McMahon household in 1999.

As a result of the breakdown of their marriage, Sheenagh McMahon finally felt able to tell the authorities that her husband had confessed to her that he had committed perjury during Mr Shortt's original trial.

More worryingly and unpredictably, Ms McMahon's evidence during Mr Shortt's appeal frequently switched focus to the Carty team the very gardaí sent to investigate allegations of corruption against their Donegal colleagues.

Under cross-examination by counsel for the DPP, Ms McMahon insisted that she had informed the Carty inquiry about her husband's alleged perjury. Yet, there was no reference to this in any of the three statements drafted by members of the Carty team for Ms McMahon to sign.

As Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman observed at the hearing, it was inexplicable that nobody on the Carty inquiry realised its significance. "It's not possible somebody could be unaware of its relevance," the judge said.

Without independent corroboration, Ms McMahon maintained she told the Carty team about her husband's admission of perjury when interviewed in 1999. Eventually, the gardaí produced a memo of the interview with Ms McMahon which confirmed her evidence.

Mr Justice Hardiman claimed the sudden appearance of the document in court represented "an extraordinary state of affairs". However, by that stage, the failure of the garda-DPP side to produce important papers had become a recurring theme as the State authorities were repeatedly criticised over the emergence of previously undisclosed documents during the case.

Nevertheless, the court said yesterday that it was satisfied that there was no deliberate concealment in the fact that documents had frequently been overlooked.

The official garda response to serious allegations made against members during the hearing did little to reassure a public suspicious about the force's ability to police itself.

In addition to Ms McMahon's allegation of perjury, she also gave evidence that her husband and Supt Lennon appeared to be collaborating on the making of statements in relation to Mr Shortt at her home.

In spite of such claims of collusion, the DPP decided that no charges should be brought against her husband after being sent a file by the Carty investigation.

Ms McGlinchey's sister, Karen, told the court that Assistant Commissioner Carty had told her they believed that Adrienne had manipulated Det McMahon and Supt Lennon. She claimed the head of the Carty inquiry had also told her their allegations could never become public because of the damage it would cause the garda. "They just wanted to bury it," she told the court in May.

And still there was more. Det. McMahon dropped another bombshell on taking the witness stand when he accused two senior officers, Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick and Chief Supt Austin McNally the respective heads of the Donegal and Sligo Garda divisions of trying to force him to sign a false statement about Supt Lennon. He claimed they had offered him a transfer to a station of his choice and preventing him from taking his own notes during interviews.

It is still unclear what action, if any, the garda authorities have taken to substantiate or refute these claims, as well as the allegation of perjury against Mc Mahon himself.

Understandably, many questions about the conduct of individual gardaí remain unanswered following yesterday's judgement, as it largely confined itself to the issue of Mr Shortt's conviction.

However, it is abundantly clear that one or more witnesses must have committed perjury during the hearing. What remains uncertain is the appetite the garda will have to pursue the matter, given that there are so few prosecutions for perjury where clear conflicts of evidence have emerged.

Det McMahon admitted freely that he was surprised at the decision by Mr Shortt to oppose having the original drugs charge dealt with by Carndonagh District Court by not pleading guilty to a summary charge back in 1992.

Yesterday's ruling that McMahon and Lennon had concealed evidence as "a conscious and deliberate act" confirms the suspicion that they suddenly had to build a case on a foundation which provided little or no evidence to support the charge against Mr Shortt.

Meanwhile, it is possible that some answers will be forthcoming from the Morris Tribunal, which is due to begin its public hearings in autumn into the allegations of corruption among Donegal gardaí.

While the inquiry was established chiefly to investigate the alleged garda harassment of the family of Donegal publican Frank McBrearty, personnel at the centre of the Shortt case, including Supt Lennon and Adrienne McGlinchey, have applied for, and been granted, legal representation.

However, it is likely to take several more years before a veil can be drawn over one of the darkest chapters in the 77-year history of An Garda Síochana.