A former Donegal detective sergeant has denied he was "the nucleus and the embryo" behind the Morris tribunal into complaints concerning some gardaí of the Donegal division.
In August 1999, Mr James Leheny (59) was appointed to the Carty team investigating allegations of Garda wrongdoing in Donegal. However, he told Supt Lennon, who is representing himself at the tribunal, that he never took any statements relating to the superintendent or Noel McMahon.
Mr Leheny said he "totally disagreed" that he was "the nucleus and the embryo for Mr Morris's public inquiry" or that he had "fired up" Mrs Sheenagh McMahon, wife of suspended detective Noel McMahon, regarding Supt Lennon's role at a family law hearing in 1995.
"I probably did tell her you were there," Mr Leheny told Supt Lennon. "I told her I was there at your request probably." Earlier this year, Mrs McMahon told how when she arrived at a court hearing for a barring order in 1995, five uniformed gardaí were there.
Mrs McMahon alleged that her estranged husband was involved in storing and planting bogus explosives finds in Donegal during the early 1990s. Alleged informant Ms Adrienne McGlinchey alleged that, together with detective McMahon and Supt Lennon, she mixed explosives that were later used in bogus Garda finds of terrorist arms. Both men have denied those claims, and Ms McGlinchey denies she was an informer.
Retired detective sergeant Leheny also told the tribunal about a "technical assault" he committed against one of the central figures in the probe.
He admitted he had earlier denied a 1996 assault on fellow officer Det Noel McMahon in Buncrana Garda station.
"I forcefully removed him from the station - that can be classified as a technical assault," he told the tribunal. "It could be argued on a point of law. I was referring to the fact that I did not physically assault him with my fists, baton or my official firearm." No action had been taken against him as a result of the incident, Mr Leheny said.
He said that he had been told later that marks on Det McMahon's chest were not inflicted by him, and that the detective told him they were as a result of "a bust-up" with his wife.
Under questioning by Mr Brian Murphy BL, representing Mr McMahon, the retired Garda denied he had "made up" the allegation that detective McMahon had told him this. "That is totally untrue," he said.
Mr Leheny made two statements in September 2002 and February 2003 about the incident. In the first statement, he said: "I never assaulted G. McMahon while he was under my supervision," but in the second statement he outlined circumstances in which he had grabbed the detective by his lapels and dragged him out of Buncrana Garda station.
Questioned by the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Frederick Morris, Mr Leheny said he did not think of the incident as an assault as he was never charged or convicted. But he agreed with Supt Kevin Lennon that the incident amounted to an assault within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Acts.
Mr Leheny also said he had been drinking on the night of the incident, as he had gone into a pub looking for a suspect, and had ordered a drink "to disguise himself". The former detective also told how he had gone to Supt Lennon in November 1996 and asked him to take away Det Noel McMahon's official revolver.
He said he did this following a phone call from Mrs Sheenagh McMahon's sister, Moya Jane Doherty, who was concerned about family safety. At this meeting, he asked Supt Lennon to take Det McMahon's gun from him. "I formed the opinion that he was reluctant," he told the chairman.
Mr Leheny told Supt Lennon that "if he didn't act before six o'clock I would have to take the matter up with the commissioner's office." Supt Lennon went to the McMahon home that evening and took the detective's official firearm and a legally held shotgun into his custody.
The following day, Det McMahon was escorted to St Patrick's Hospital for treatment.