Estranged garda husband ‘held gun to wife’s head’

THE woman at the centre of the Morris Tribunal has claimed her estranged garda husband held a gun to her head.

Supt Tom Long told the second day of the tribunal probing allegations of garda corruption that Sheena McMahon told him before she got her first protection order against her husband Noel, he pointed his gun at her head.

She also claimed Supt Kevin Lennon, against whom Mrs McMahon has also made serious allegations, was aware of this incident.

Supt Long said Mrs McMahon claimed her house was being used by her husband and Lennon to mix explosives, which were transported throughout Donegal and the North. The superintendent reported to the tribunal that Mrs McMahon had approached him in 1999 saying she had genuine fears and concerns about her safety and had been warned to keep her mouth shut about claims she was making about her husband and other garda officers mixing explosives.

Her fears were based on threats that she would be "dealt with" by a named person.

She also told him she wanted the allegations investigated by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, claiming she would be regarded as "a head-banger, who was off the wall" if she spoke to the gardaí. But eventually she agreed not to take that step, leaving the issue instead to police inquiries. "I believed what she said to me, that she was threatened and had genuine concerns about her own well-being," Supt Long said.

The tribunal also heard yesterday about both a hatred and a relationship involving figures at the centre of the investigation.

Inquiry head Mr Justice Frederick Morris was told one of the key witnesses had hated Supt Kevin Lennon, who has been linked to a raft of improper activity allegations, while a female garda was now in a relationship with an officer facing claims of faking terrorist explosive finds.

Both pieces of evidence were provided for the former High Court president by Garda Alison Teape.