Man claims gardaí stopped his kidnap complaints
Paul ‘Gazza’ Gallagher from Letterkenny told the Morris Tribunal he had been bound and gagged by members of his ex-girlfriend’s family near Castlederg, thrown in the back of a jeep, and taken to a Garda Border checkpoint in May1996.
Mr Gallagher, 29, said he was then taken by three detectives to Letterkenny Station where he met Detective Superintendent Kevin Lennon. He said he was denied access to a doctor and solicitor.
“I was taken up to the room to him. I was handed over to them, the three of them, that’s why they let me go then because they didn’t want any handling in it,” Mr Gallagher said.
“I tried to make a complaint and I was told to clear out.”
Mr Gallagher told the tribunal that he had been severely beaten during the kidnap.
“I was bleeding and all, I was scraped and scarred from head to toe and blood on my face and I was black and blue. I was battered,” Mr Gallagher said.
Mr Gallagher shouted from the witness box that Det Supt Lennon was “crooked” and that he had done nothing to help him after the kidnap.
Det Supt Lennon, who has been suspended from the gardaí over allegations of faked IRA arms dumps in Donegal, demanded he be allowed to set the record straight.
He claimed that he was not even serving in Letterkenny at that time.
“I want to make it clear for public record these are very serious allegations made against me, and I was never a party to it. Could it have been put in your mind by other people that it was me?” he asked.
Mr Gallagher said he could have confused Det Supt Lennon with another superintendent stationed in Letterkenny at the time.
“I knew his face but his name was given to me by the Carty team. They gave me his name but I still think it was him. But I didn’t know his name at the time, but maybe I’m wrong,” Mr Gallagher said.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Kevin Carty, headed a 1999 investigation into allegations of corruption in Donegal during the 1990s.
The tribunal is looking into a range of allegations about garda operations in the county over the last decade.
The corruption claims inquiry is now focusing on events surrounding theapparent hit-and-run death of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron in October1996.
