White investigation ‘will not be subject of garda enquiry’

GARDA bosses have ruled out any inquiry into a garda investigation which led to the prosecution of a Donegal officer at the centre of claims regarding the Omagh bombing.

Detective Sergeant John White, from Ballybofey, was acquitted of charges of making false statements and perverting the course of justice earlier this week.

Mr White gained notoriety after he claimed he passed on information regarding the movements of a car allegedly involved in the Omagh bombing to senior gardaí, but that this was not given to the RUC.

Letterkenny Circuit Court cleared Mr White after Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin found inconsistencies in the evidence of the main prosecution witness and a lack of corroboration.

Mr White was on trial for making false statements to gardaí between July and December 1998 implicating members of the McBrearty family from Raphoe in a crime and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Judge Ó Donnabháin directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty as the evidence of chief state witness Bernard Conlon was riddled with inconsistencies.

Conlon, a self-confessed Garda informer, was convicted of making the same false statements almost three years ago.

Judge Ó Donnabháin ruled that Conlon’s testimony was unreliable as he had committed perjury previously and admitted in the trial he did not know the difference between a ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ plea.