Dishonesty not normal at garda station, Tribunal told
Dishonest transactions were not normal practice at Sligo garda station, a former garda who was prosecuted for passing on false loss of earnings certificates said today.
Former Garda John Nicholson has told the Morris Tribunal into garda corruption in Donegal he passed on a certificate for Bernard Conlon, who gave evidence against Frank McBrearty Senior in a "found-on" licensing case.
But because he couldn’t find Mr Conlon’s employer Bernard Maguire and had been informed the matter was urgent, he obtained a forged document from a fellow garda, John Keogh, who is now deceased.
Mr Nicholson admitted to passing on three or four false loss of earnings documents over a period of time, even though he was later able to track down Bernard Maguire and tell him what he had done.
The former garda was today asked to explain in detail how he obtained the first of the forged certificates.
“This is a landmark event in your life for the first time you were approaching another member of An Garda Siochana and inviting him to join you in a dishonest transaction,” the chairman, Judge Frederick Morris said.
Mr Nicholson said: “I told him that Mr Conlon was on to me and that Sgt White had told him to contact me and that he refused to get a receipt from Mr Maguire, and that I had spoken to Sgt White and that Sgt White had expressed a great urgency that this man wouldn’t be lost and that he needed a receipt.
“I told him that I went looking for Bernard Maguire and I couldn’t find him.
“He told me he’d get me a receipt.” he said.
“I never said ’Will you get a receipt for me’, he volunteered,” Mr Nicholson told the tribunal.
Asked by the chairman if it was that easy, he replied: “That’s the way it occurred.”
“Is that normal?” Mr Justice Morris asked.
“No, certainly not, chairman,” he replied.
But he told the tribunal Garda Keogh was certainly not a special case and that he hadn’t sought him out in particular.
“I don’t recollect I went to him especially,” he said.
The chairman asked Mr Nicholson if he should report to the Oireachtas that the former garda could have gone to any colleague in Sligo station, outlined the problem and he would have got the same result.
“I don’t know that I would have, chairman,” he replied.
Mr Nicholson said he did not get Bernard Maguire’s signature for the second receipt which was required seven months later because of laziness and incompetence on his own part.
Mr Nicholson has already told the Morris Tribunal he obtained the receipt to “oblige” a colleague, Det Sgt John White, but today he said that the senior officer had not expected false certificates.
“So the notion of getting a forged certificate was entirely yours?” the chairman asked.
“Yes, sir, for the ones I was involved in.”
But he could not give a reason why he hadn’t forged the certificates himself.
John Whelan, senior counsel for Det Sgt White, put it to Mr Nicholson that he hadn’t obtained the false receipts for Mr Conlon because of his conversation with Det Sgt White.
“There was no immediate urgency because John White was in Dublin and not back until the next day,” Mr Whelan said.
“I don’t know where John White was but he expressed to me great urgency,” Mr Nicholson replied.
Mr Whelan said the faxed copy of the receipt showed it was not sent until the next day, which did not indicate urgency in getting the false receipt to Sgt White in Letterkenny.
