Former garda 'likely to have typed corruption claim fax'

An internationally respected forensic scientist today said he believed a retired garda typed a fax implicating the force’s top brass in dirty policing.

After examining nine documents for the Morris Tribunal, British expert Dr Robert Radley pointed the finger of blame at PJ Togher.

The retired garda was a trusted friend of Donegal publican Frank McBrearty Senior in the late 1990s when the stories of corruption first surfaced.

The inquiry is trying to uncover the source of these ’Anonymous Allegations’ which were sent to two TDs in 2000 and ultimately led to the tribunal being set up.

However, Dr Radley, who runs a private lab examining handwriting and documents, cautioned the evidence did not allow him to be 100% certain.

“I’m of the opinion that there is positive limited evidence that Mr Togher typed this document,” he told the inquiry.

And during tough questioning from Mr Togher’s barrister Kevin Darcy, the forensic expert appeared to temper his initial assessment.

Four of the nine documents involved the Anonymous Allegations which were faxed out.

When pushed in detail on typing consistencies in the faxes and differences between them and letters Mr Togher admits typing, Dr Radley accepted there were few similarities.

“I would concede there are very few features in the fax document that could actually be compared… very few that are repeated,” he told the inquiry.

However, Dr Radley, who has 25 years experience examining typed documents and handwriting, insisted he came to his initial conclusion after spotting a combination of quirks in the typing style.

He cautioned they were not unique but insisted it was enough to point the finger at ex-garda Togher.

He said there were unusual similarities in punctuation, numbering and basic word processing.

“This is a relatively low level confidence of opinion, far from conclusive,” he said.

“But I believe that on this evidence it is more likely that Mr Togher typed it than someone else who coincidentally has this combination of typing features.”

Dr Radley noted 50 different typographical features in the nine documents.

But Mr Darcy warned: “I don’t think you can have it both ways.”

Last year Dr Radley dismissed claims by Mr McBrearty Jnr, who was wrongly-arrested for a murder that never was, that detectives forged his signature on statements.

He is an international expert in his field with 25 years’ experience and his practice is the longest established private independent laboratory of its kind in the UK.

His evidence has been used in court cases around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and Malta as well as Hong Kong.

The tribunal is examining nine documents allegedly typed or written by Mr Togher. He accepts he typed one of them, a letter to a newspaper editor, but denies the others were his work.