Ex-garda ‘mystified’ by abuse claims

A FORMER senior garda told the Morris Tribunal yesterday he was mystified by the allegations of intimidation and abuse made against his colleagues in Donegal.

Former detective sergeant Hugh Smith said the arrest and detention of electrician Damien McDaid in December 1996 was uneventful.

Mr Smith said that he believed there was little evidence to arrest the father-of-two at the time and therefore gardaí had no reason to interrogate him with force.