Former Garda admits typing letters for publican

A former garda and friend of Frank McBrearty Snr today said he typed letters containing details of Garda inspections on the Donegal publican’s premises.

PJ Togher told the Morris Tribunal he drafted documents for Mr McBrearty Snr, some of which were letters containing complaints of garda harassment.

The retired officer was a close friend of the Donegal publican in the late 1990s when the stories of Garda corruption first surfaced.

It is alleged the ex-garda was the source of anonymous allegations sent to two TDs which led to the tribunal being set up.

The inquiry is trying to uncover the source of the anonymous allegations sent to Brendan Howlin and Jim Higgins in 2000.

The finger of blame was pointed at Mr Togher by internationally respected forensic scientist, Dr Robert Radley, but the former garda strongly denied the accusation.

Mr Togher said he typed details received from bar staff at the Raphoe nightclub and private investigator Billy Flynn via Mr McBrearty Snr.

But he insisted he had nothing to do with the documents being investigated by the tribunal.

“He was asking me to type a letter for him and I was making sure that he had legal advice before he sent them, wherever he was sending them,” Mr Togher said.

“I typed them, left them on the desk for him and I never saw them again after that.”

It was claimed the same idiosyncrasies in the anonymous allegation letters were present in those documents Mr Togher admitted to typing.

Mr Togher accepted he typed one, a letter to a newspaper editor, but denies the others were his work.