Garda ‘held her nerve’ to report forgery suspicions

IT TOOK a considerable amount of nerve for a junior Donegal garda to report her suspicions that a superior had forged a signature on a murder confession, the Morris Tribunal heard yesterday.

The tribunal is investigating garda corruption in Donegal.

Garda Tina Fowley said for the best part of five or six weeks, she mulled over her concerns, trying to muster the courage to speak out. She also feared she would lose her job.

Gda Fowley manned the incident room in Letterkenny Garda Station during a murder investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron, which was later found to be a hit and run.

She eventually made her allegation to the internal garda inquiry team under Kevin Carty, though she hoped at the time her fears would be unfounded.

“I just had the nerve up that day,” she said. “I could have easily lost my nerve that night.”

Both Frank McBrearty Jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell were being detained on suspicion of murder at the time, December 4, 1996.

“He [Inspector John McGinley] had just finished writing on the page and the last thing on the page was the signature,” Gda Fowley said.

She said also on the table was a photocopy of a C8 form — a pre-printed form for witness statements — which she believes Mr McBrearty Jnr may have signed from a previous arrest in relation to the case.

However, Gda Fowley says the document she saw Insp McGinley writing on is not the false confession in possession of the tribunal.

Mr McConnell claims that he was shown a four-page false confession signed by his co-accused admitting their involvement in the supposed killing.

Again, this is not the same false confession held by the tribunal and the document was never seen again.

Gda Fowley said Insp McGinley would not be as foolhardy to write a false confession, but claimed it may have been used to show to Mr McConnell.

Mr McBrearty Jnr denies signing any confession.

Gda Fowley said she was surprised to hear that night, the accused had made a statement of admission.

She admitted that the following day she checked Mr McBrearty Jnr’s file to compare the signatures, but that the admission statement was not among the original document file.

“I expected the statement of admission, as an original document, to be there,” she said.

“It wasn’t. The C8 witness statement was there.

“I was going to compare the two signatures to put the issue to bed for myself.”

Two-and-a-half years later, when Mr McBrearty Jnr disputed the admission was his, Gda Fowley said she found the nerve to report what she saw to the Carty team.

Michael Durack, senior counsel for Insp McGinley who denies the claims, queried why his client would have shown a forged signature to a junior officer.

Da Fowley said during the tribunal, Insp McGinley denied other allegations she made, which had been backed up by other members.

“He seemed to have no regard for the effects of telling the truth,” she said.

The Morris Tribunal, which is investigating garda corruption in Donegal, is currently hearing claims that 12 people — many related to the McBrearty family — were interrogated, intimidated and abused during the botched death probe.

It was found that Richie Barron was the victim of a hit-and-run in October 1996. No-one has been charged in relation to his death.