'Sick' garda refuses to return to witness box

A Garda sergeant who served with a United Nations police team in Bosnia in the 1990s today claimed he was not fit to give evidence at the Morris Tribunal.

Sgt Martin Moylan, who has been on sick leave for several months, refused to return to the witness box after more than two hours of tough cross examination.

He was hit with a barrage of questions from Brian Murphy BL, for the Garda Representative Association, over his role in the investigation into the death of a Donegal cattle dealer in October 1996.

On several occasions Sgt Moylan lost his train of thought and asked for questions to repeated. The inquiry was adjourned when he failed to return for the afternoon session.

The officer’s evidence to the tribunal was also interrupted last July after it emerged he was not well enough to take the stand. A psychiatric report has been handed over to the inquiry on his state of health.

It is understood Sgt Moylan, who played a key role in the incident room in charge of the Richie Barron death probe, has been suffering from severe stress over the last few months.

Lawyers acting for Sgt Moylan have written to the tribunal to complain over abuse they alleged he received while taking the stand earlier in the week.

Mr Justice Frederick Morris warned Moylan’s former Superintendent, Kevin Lennon, that he would not tolerate the bullying of witnesses.

A code of practice was introduced at the tribunal over Christmas barring name calling and hurling abuse across the court floor during heated exchanges and cross examination.

Lennon, who was booted out of the force last July after a damning report found he had set up hoax IRA arms dumps, said he was trying to defend his position and in no way intended offence.

“You’ll have your opportunity to cross examine and I’ll ask you not to interrupt in the way you did,” the judge told Lennon.

“The practice direction which I gave, namely that the practice of shouting at witnesses and calling them degrading names, will not be tolerated any further.

“The audio recordings of the hearings are ample testimony to the nature of this abuse, a matter that no court would tolerate.”