Tribunal told of plan to blame junior gardaí
Top detectives probing a botched murder investigation plotted to take scalps from junior ranks of the gardaí in Donegal, a former officer claimed today.
Sacked garda John O’Dowd said a team headed by Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty were determined to stand up an alleged confession to the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron.
O’Dowd, booted out of the force last December, said senior detectives were playing a blame game as they attempted to cover-up the statement allegedly made by Frank McBrearty junior.
He told the Morris Tribunal he was worried about being stitched up for failures in the inquiry.
“I was afraid that I would be fitted up and it was as simple as that. Someone had to be blamed, there's no two ways about it. I was afraid of what they would do to me,” O’Dowd said.
“I felt that that was the way the gardaí operated, blame someone at the bottom of the line. The blame never goes upstairs, it goes downstairs.”
Lawyers for the tribunal accused O’Dowd of going to astonishing lengths to ensure the Carty inquiry was stymied at every turn.
Under intense pressure, he admitted being stubborn but claimed it was out fear for his future in the force.
“I was afraid of these guys,” O’Dowd said.
“I believe they were down here at the time to get a few heads and go back and say the statement of Frank McBrearty junior was alright.
“I know the way the guards operate, pick someone up and throw muck.
“I’m only a small minnow here against a huge organisation and I lost my job over this.”
O’Dowd, who had been drinking with his colleague in a pub on the night of the Barron death, denied being responsible for the hit-and-run.
Peter Charleton SC posed the question to Mr O’Dowd for the second time in three days.
“I resent that now very much, Mr Chairman. That is ridiculous, that’s bloody ridiculous,” O’Dowd said.
The tribunal has also heard evidence that O’Dowd was the handler for a petty criminal turned informer who allegedly connived to drive a murder investigation against Mr McBrearty Jnr.
The tribunal is probing the circumstances surrounding the apparent hit-and-run death of Mr Barron in October 1996 in Raphoe.
