'Murder Squad' detective denied Noel Long had head immersed in body parts in interview

Fomer garda Gerry O'Carroll had said: 'I can say this to my Lord: we don't have body parts lying around in Garda Stations.'

Fomer garda Gerry O'Carroll (pictured) also characterised as "extraordinary" and "fanciful" Noel Long's recollection of being visited during the interview by someone dressed as a priest or a monk. Picture: Collins Courts

Cold Case murderer Noel Long claimed that during a 1981 interrogation by gardaí he was beaten and brought into a dark room, where his head was repeatedly immersed in glass containers containing what he was told were body parts.

One of the last surviving members of the "Murder Squad", an historic garda unit involved in many high-profile investigations in the 1980s, denied the allegation and called it “extraordinary”.