Garda will fight to save reputation

A GARDA who was criticised by the Morris Tribunal yesterday vowed to fight to the end to protect his reputation.

Garda Martin Leonard is one of several members of the force whose careers are in jeopardy following the publication of the tribunal’s report into the botched investigation in Donegal into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron.

“I’m prepared to lose everything to vindicate my name. I’m on the verge of losing everything in my efforts to do that,” he said.

Mr Leonard, who is currently on sick leave from the force, was the custody officer in November 1996 when two gardaí forced a local man to make a false statement about the death of Richie Barron.

This led to the wrongful arrest of Frank McBrearty Junior, his cousin Mark McConnell and several members of their families.

Mr Leonard said he was ashamed of what had happened. “But I hadn’t a clue what was happening in relation to those prisoners or those persons who had been brought in for questioning.

“That was all organised at a conference and unfortunately I was working that day as a station orderly.”

The Morris Tribunal found he did nothing to protect prisoner Robert Noel McBride who made a witness statement.

“The Tribunal is convinced that Garda Martin Leonard did nothing to intervene on behalf of the prisoner but instead, ensured that the prisoner was left in a state where it was made perfectly clear to him that if he moved out of the Garda Station there would be trouble.”

In his report, Judge Frederick Morris described Mr Leonard as “incorrigible and unbiddable.”

“Garda Martin Leonard is a person who has impressed the Tribunal by his consistent ability to be deceitful in relation to every matter of importance for which he is asked to account.”

Mr Leonard said that he had been targeted by both the “Carty investigation team”, which was the initial garda inquiry into Donegal allegations, and then by the Morris Tribunal.

He said: “It’s unjustifiable criticism. I’ve no doubt about that.”

If he is dismissed from the force, he faces losing his pension rights because he is under 50.

“I haven’t reached that 50-year mark, the magic number, so I will lose everything until I’m 60. So it’s a big price to pay,” Mr Leonard said.

Mr Leonard was also criticised in the first report of the Morris Tribunal, which found that he conspired to frustrate “the legitimate inquiries conducted by the Carty investigation team.”

Mr Leonard told the tribunal that regarding such internal investigations it was the nature of gardaí not to name names.

“We are not going to be hanging our people,” he said at the time.

The Government and Garda Commissioner are examining the future of Mr Leonard and the other officers implicated in the latest Morris Tribunal report.