Disgraced garda planted drugs on club-goer, tribunal told

A senior garda officer allegedly planted drugs in the jacket pocket of a man arrested at a Donegal nightclub in the late 1990s, a tribunal heard today.

Disgraced former Sergeant John White detained Paul Quinn on suspicion of drugs possession after the latter asked the officer’s name at a Raphoe nightclub on the night of February 10, 1997.

Mr Quinn told the Morris Tribunal he approached White because the officer had allegedly intimidated his sister during questioning over the October 1996 killing of a local cattle dealer.

But White arrested Mr Quinn on suspicion of drugs possession and brought him to Raphoe garda station where he told him to take off his jacket.

“I can’t remember if I handed it to him [White] or I put it on the counter because he asked me then to take my top of, so I couldn’t have done both. I must have handed it to him, but I’m not 100% sure,” Mr Quinn said.

About 10 minutes into the interview Mr Quinn said another garda searching the jacket drew White’s attention to a silver package, later revealed to be drugs, found in one of the inside pockets.

“I just shook my head and thought, I’m getting set up here,” Mr Quinn said.

Asked by tribunal barrister Tony Barr SC where the drugs came from, Mr Quinn said he had no doubt White planted them.

Some time prior to the incident White had quizzed Mr Quinn’s sister, Roisin McConnell, over the mysterious killing of cattle dealer Richie Barron, who was found at the side of a road in October 1996.

Mrs McConnell’s husband Mark and his cousin Frank McBrearty Junior had been wrongly implicated in the death by gardaí.

Mr Quinn told the tribunal White had intimidated his sister and she later had to receive psychological treatment to get over the ordeal.

“I was never in custody before and to me it was the last thing I thought could have happened.

“He could have done it anytime.

“I was so green towards everything .

“I could never imagine such a thing would be done.

“I knew he [White] was capable of doing things, but planting drugs, I never thought he would stoop that low,” Mr Quinn said.

The tribunal is investigating claims the McBrearty family was the victim of orchestrated harassment and intimidation by gardaí over the Barron death.

It was later ruled an unsolved hit-and-run and the family was cleared of any wrong doing.