Journalist arrested over leak vows he will not be ‘intimidated’

A JOURNALIST arrested for publishing a leaked report said yesterday he would not be intimidated from exposing the truth.

Crime reporter Mick McCaffrey, formerly of the Evening Herald, said the newspaper had only been told by the Department of Justice they were breaking the law in publishing the report after they had finished the story.

Last August, Mr McCaffrey revealed extensive details from a draft report into the prosecution — wrongly — of the late Dean Lyons for a double murder in Dublin in 1997.

An inquiry was conducted by a Government-established Commission of Investigation, chaired by George Birmingham SC. Its report was submitted to the Department of Justice in July 2006.

The Commission of Investigation Act 2004 makes it an offence for someone to disclose details from a draft report without the permission of the commission or the courts.

If Mr McCaffrey is charged with such an offence, he and the newspaper face a fine of up to €300,000. Mr McCaffrey faces up to five years in jail.

On Wednesday, Mr McCaffrey, along with a garda sergeant, were arrested by detectives following an official complaint by the Department of Justice regarding a breach of legislation.

He and the officer were detained separately for almost eight hours and released pending the submission of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Mr McCaffrey said: “As a journalist, I would never be intimidated against running a story because of the law. We’re not above the law, we’re accountable, as yesterday’s arrest showed.

“Journalists will not be intimidated by anyone, by laws, for exposing the truth, about exposing wrong doings. We’re here to expose truth.”

Mr McCaffrey, who now works with the Sunday Tribune, said he had made numerous attempts to contact the Department of Justice before publication.

“They only got back to us an hour and a half after the original story had gone to bed,” he said. “They informed us we were in breach of this legislation. We weren’t aware of this legislation. We didn’t know were in breach of it. We only found out subsequently, but by then the paper had gone to bed.”

He said it would be “sad for democracy” if gardaí could no longer talk to journalists because of an “overzealous” minister or department official.

He said he was treated “exceptionally well” by the gardaí who arrested him.

Meanwhile, the mother of Mr Lyons, Sheila Lyons yesterday told Newstalk radio that whoever leaked the report to Mr McCaffrey should be held responsible.

She said she would like to see the gardaí who questioned her son face charges. She said her son spent nine months in custody for something he didn’t do.