Death probe garda wanted to 'nail' witness, Tribunal told
A garda involved in the botched investigation into the death of a Raphoe cattle dealer apparently admitted he was paranoid and wanted to “nail” Frank McBrearty snr, it emerged today.
A letter reportedly written by Garda Philip Collins to Garda John O’Dowd, who was dismissed from the force last week, concedes certain evidence may have been fabricated.
“I had no idea what happened to Richie Barron, I was just fooling myself that I knew,” the letter, dated March 1998, reads.
“I just had one thought and that was to nail McBrearty. That b*****d should have been nailed years ago.
“I even went as far as making a statement that he was following me, that I think was pure fantasy. I got very paranoid, John and I got very sick.”
Mr Collins previously made a statement claiming he had noticed Mr McBrearty driving along and watching him as he visited the Peoples’ house, after they received hoax telephone calls accusing them of murdering Mr Barron.
He resigned earlier this year and has so far refused to appear before the tribunal due to ill health.
Mr McBrearty claimed the gardai had no justification for arresting his father and accused certain officers of trying to frame the family.
He alleged that a statement taken by senior gardai on October 18, 1996 was not the one he had signed and excluded certain information.
In an application to have tribunal counsel Paul McDermott SC and Garda Commissioner counsel Pat Marrinan SC apologise for interventions they made concerning the disputed statement, he said: “This tribunal has tried to frame me for murder and the people who have tried to frame me are sitting down at the back of this court.”
But Tribunal chairman Justice Frederick Morris refused the application and urged Mr McBrearty not to make such lengthy submissions.
“I perceive Mr McBrearty is overwrought and is not himself in many ways,” he said. “I believe in the spur of the moment he says things he doesn’t mean.
“If in the course of his submissions he makes extravagant statements I will take into account the fact that he is not himself.”
The tribunal heard that on December 4, 1996 when the McBrearty family was arrested in Donegal, Frank McBrearty snr was in Dublin making a complaint to Labour TD Joan Burton about Garda harassment.
Mr McBrearty claimed gardai in Donegal knew his father was away because Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick’s cousin was a TD who had seen him in the Dail.
He was arrested the following day, hours after informant Noel McBride’s statement was apparently taken. “That statement was used to arrest my father,” Mr McBrearty claimed.
“Now tell us the real reason why that statement was taken.”
Supt Joe Shelly, under cross examination, denied the allegations and said Mr McBrearty snr had been arrested because of an issue surrounding the intimidation of witnesses.
Mr McBrearty demanded to know why Supt Shelly had not put information obtained by Mr McBride to him in April 1997.
“If you had put those statements to us we would have known you were trying to frame us for murder and we would have been able to prove it in the High Court,” he said. “You knew we’d get to the bottom of youse and you knew you were in trouble.”
Supt Shelly said they had not finished with Mr McBride and had wanted to find out “where he was coming from”.
The tribunal investigating allegations of garda corruption in the 1990s was adjourned until Monday.
