Detectives deny jail threats to Barron suspect

Two detectives today denied threatening a Donegal woman with 14 years in jail as they compared her to the callous killers of journalist Veronica Guerin.

Both Det Michael O’Grady and Det Brendan Regan rejected claims they piled pressure on Raphoe native Edel Quinn after she was arrested during a botched garda murder investigation in the town.

The pair dismissed allegations the Guerin murder was used as a scare tactic and also denied they compared her to the IRA gang which shot dead Det Gda Jerry McCabe in Adare.

Ms Quinn was quizzed by the pair after being detained on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact following the killing of cattle dealer Richie Barron in 1996.

It is now accepted he died in a hit-and-run.

In evidence to the tribunal earlier this week Ms Quinn detailed a harrowing day of questioning in Lifford Garda Station where she was asked to swear on a Bible, told she would be sent to Mountjoy Prison for 14 years and asked about her late father.

Det Regan, who said he believed Ms Quinn was a decent woman, dismissed the allegations out of hand.

“There was no question of confessions or anything like that,” he said.

“I did not ask her to swear on the Bible and there was no mention of 14 years whatsoever. I have 23 years service, 20 in the detective branch and interviewed numerous amounts of people, taken hundreds of statements and have never asked anybody to swear on the Bible.”

The tribunal also heard that a plaque in Raphoe town in memory of the late Mr Barron had recently been changed and no longer reads that he was murdered.

Det Regan was asked whether interviews were sanitised when reports were written and if he ever warned suspects about possible jail time in a bid to bring home the seriousness of crimes.

“It was,” he said. “But there was no animosity. If you are talking about any aggravation there was nothing like that in the interview (with Ms Quinn).”

O’Grady said at no stage was she called a liar, nor was she threatened with jail.

“All I can say is I did not mention Veronica Guerin or a motorcycle or anything like that,” Det O’Grady told the hearing.

Chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris was forced to interrupt the officers several times during cross examination, asking what – if anything – they were doing in the interview room.

“I’m asking you this naïve question because I find it hard to credit that you were doing your job at all,” he said, “Why is everyone running miles from everything?”

The tribunal hearing continues.