Garda tells of horror at officer's 'loaded gun threat'

A Donegal garda spoke today of his disbelief when a detective pointed a revolver to his head and released the hammer as though he was going to shoot.

Garda Seamus Gordon told the Morris Tribunal into alleged Garda corruption that he later discovered detective Garda Noel McMahon’s gun was loaded.

It was an awful experience, an awful thing to do, to produce a firearm, he told the tribunal.

He said a “jovial” conversation had taken place at Buncrana garda station in September 1992 over who should take credit for the discovery of a suspect device.

Even though officers at the station found the device, Det Garda McMahon told them that he and another detective, inspector Kevin Lennon, would claim responsibility.

Garda Gordon expressed concern at this – and said that Det Garda McMahon then produced a gun.

He said the detective placed the gun six to 12 inches from his head and cocked the hammer three times.

During the incident the garda heard somebody say “put that down”, at which point the gun was put away.

Garda Gordon said: “(There was) disbelief on the part of the unit that was there that it happened and the fact that the inspector did nothing about it at the time.”

He did not report the matter and said he expected inspector Lennon to initiate an inquiry.

“My superior officer was beside me and I expected him to lead the way,” he told the tribunal.

In an earlier statement Det Garda McMahon claimed he had pointed the gun at him in jest and that it was not loaded.

He said he thought the incident was taken in “good faith”, and that it was just dragged up when investigations began.

The tribunal is currently examining allegations about garda operations in Co Donegal in the 1990s, claiming that alleged IRA informer Adrienne McGlinchey, together with detectives Garda Noel McMahon and Superintendent Lennon – both currently suspended from the force – mixed explosives that were later used in bogus garda finds of terrorist arms.

The two officers have both denied those claims, and Ms McGlinchey has insisted that she was never an IRA informer.