State apologises to publican for 'miscarriage of justice'

The State today apologised unreservedly to Co Donegal man Frank Shortt for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment on trumped up charges that he allowed the sale of drugs at his former nightclub in Inishowen.

Mr Michael Cush SC, for the State, told the Supreme Court: "The State acknowledges that Mr Frank Shortt was the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice. For that and for all his suffering and loss as a

consequence, the State apologises to him unreservedly."

The State's apology came at the end of hearing in the Supreme Court in which Mr Shortt is appealing against the level of some of the €1.93m damages he was awarded by the High Court last year.

Mr Shortt said after the hearing: "After so many years and even at this late stage I am delighted to receive an apology. I accept it in the spirit that it was given."

Mr Shortt's lawyers have submitted that the €500,000 general damages award was "insufficient and inadequate" and that the €50,000 awarded for exemplary damages was "very inadequate".

The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in Mr Shortt's appeal.

Last year the High Court awarded some €1.93m damages and legal costs - estimated at hundreds of thousands of euro - to Mr Shortt.

The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, said at the time that the case of Mr Shortt had involved an "outrageous abuse of power" by some gardaí and the circumstances of the case had led to his including €50,000 as exemplary damages in the award.

Mr Justice Finnegan said Mr Shortt's suffering could fairly be said to have spanned a period of 12 years.

Mr Shortt had entered prison at the age of 60, when it must be expected that the rigours of prison life would have a greater effect upon him than on a young man.

Mr Shortt, now aged 70, had sued the Garda Commissioner and the State.

His lawyers had claimed Mr Shortt was "destroyed" as a result of being wrongfully convicted and jailed for on charges of allowing the sale of drugs at his Point Inn premises, Quigley's Point.

Damages were awarded under a number of headings.

They included €806,221 for losses related to the Point Inn and a caravan park which Mr Shortt had owned.

A sum of €550,000 was awarded for loss of profits, net of tax, at the Point Inn.

General damages of €500,000 under the Criminal Procedure Act (relating to the period spent in jail) were also included.

Mr Shortt, a married father of five with an address at Redcastle, Co Donegal, had served 27 months in prison, including some months in "inhumane" conditions in a cell measuring 10 feet by seven feet, his lawyers said.

Mr Shortt was convicted initially in 1995. His first appeal against his conviction was rejected but after his release in 1998 he pursued the matter and secured a fresh appeal.

In July 2000, the Court of Criminal Appeal decided that Mr Shortt had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

It ruled the miscarriage was on grounds of newly-discovered facts - the deliberate suppression of material by two gardaí, Det Garda Noel McMahon and Superintendent Kevin Lennon.

Both gardaí were formerly attached to Buncrana garda station and were involved in "Operation Spider", an undercover garda operation into alleged drug dealing at the Point Inn in 1992.

Mr Justice Finnegan said there was an "outrageous abuse of power'' by garda officers.

Evidence was planted and perjured evidence was relied upon.