Dismissed detective bids to overturn Morris reports

A DISMISSED Garda Detective Sergeant has brought a High Court challenge aimed at overturning adverse findings made against him by the Morris Tribunal in its report of an arson attack on a mobile phone mast in Co Donegal, including that it was he who caused a device to be placed on the mast.

Detective Sgt John White may also seek leave at a later stage to challenge two other reports of the tribunal, the court was told yesterday. Those two reports, and the report on the mast incident, were published in August 2006.

Det White, who has at all times protested his innocence of the allegations made against him, claims the tribunal has breached his constitutional rights and is “guilty of bias in its dealings with me”. Following the tribunal’s findings, he had been dismissed from An Garda Síochána and the tribunal’s conduct had exacted a heavy personal, medical and financial toll on him and his family, he claims. He had also been refused most of his legal costs of dealing with the tribunal.