Gardaí failed to pass on allegations of brutality

EVIDENCE of alleged garda brutality was not included in an official police report on a botched murder investigation, it emerged yesterday.

A solicitor’s letter of complaint about the mistreatment of Frank McBrearty Jnr — wrongly accused of beating Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron to death — went missing either through negligence or “nefarious” reasons, it was claimed.

Lawyer James Sweeney wrote up the document and delivered it to gardaí after his client, Mr McBrearty, claimed officers had physically abused him, called him an alcoholic wife-beater and a “murdering bastard” during his interrogation.