Garda detective denies autopsy photos conspiracy

A detective garda denied there was a conspiracy among officers before the Morris Tribunal to reject claims graphic autopsy photographs had been shown to suspects during a murder inquiry.

Det Garda Patrick Tague said he did not show gruesome pictures and did not assault Donegal man Mark McConnell when he was brought in for questioning over the death of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron.

Tribunal Counsel, Peter Charleton, SC, said: “There is a huge culture of denial in relation to showing photographs which doesn’t seem to accord with reality, I mean people are denying things left, right and centre.”

“Showing the photographs is not garda policy,” the detective garda replied.

Mr Charleton queried: “Is it the case that multiple copies of these photographs were shown to multiple people and that there is a plan before the tribunal, a conspiracy to deny it. That is the question I am asking you, are you part of it?

Det Gda Tague replied: “The answer is no.”

Mark McConnell was wrongly arrested a number of times during the course of the botched investigation into the death of cattle dealer Mr Barron. Gardaí believed Mr McConnell and his cousin Frank McBrearty Jnr had killed the cattle dealer. However, it was later ruled that Mr Barron was the victim of a hit-and-run rather than assault.

During his first arrest in December 1996, Mr McConnell alleges he was intimidated, physically assaulted, abused, sworn at, shown a false confession and shown graphic autopsy photographs.

The tribunal heard Gda John O’Dowd, Sgt Martin Moylan, Det Gda John Dooley and Det Sgt John White have already admitted showing the photographs to people on the periphery of the murder investigation.

“Now these photographs are being shown to peripheral individuals and they motivated apparently to shock them into a realisation of what happened, you went in there as you said yesterday with a fixed belief Mark McConnell had something to do with this murder and you didn’t show photographs,” Mr Charleton said.

Det Gda Tague reiterated he had not shown the photographs to Mr McConnell.

The detective garda said Katrina Brolly, and Mr McConnell’s wife Roisin, made allegations to their solicitor about being shown photographs immediately after they were questioned by gardaí.

“I am into September 1997, nearly a year later and I’m associated with no photographs at all, and later on I’m picked on as the person that showed the photographs and the evidence against me is getting clearer as time goes on and there is nothing immediately which you would expect,” Det Gda Tague said.

The detective garda said gardaí had later wondered how Mr McConnell could give such accurate descriptions of the photographs, including an unrelated picture of a blue Vauxhall Cavalier which was accidentally included in the post mortem pictures, as they had not shown them to him.

“I have tried hard to figure out how he can describe this Vauxhall Cavalier,” he said.

Det Gda Tague said he did not have a discussion with Sgt Moylan in relation to denying showing the photographs.