Gardai paid to have McBrearty framed, Morris hears

The Morris tribunal has heard allegations from a Garda informer from Sligo that he was paid by Donegal gardaí to make false statements and "set up" members of the extended McBrearty family.

Continuing his opening statement this morning, Mr Peter Charleton SC, for the tribunal, said the witness, Mr Bernard Conlon, alleged he had been paid over £2,000 (€2,500) to give evidence by Det Sgt John White and Garda John Nicholson.

He said he had been paid to claim Mr Mark McConnell and Mr Michael Peoples had called to his house and threatened him for being an informer, handing him a silver bullet. Mr McConell is a first cousin of Mr Frank McBrearty jnr, and Mr Peoples is related by marriage.

Mr Conlon, from Sligo, claimed Det Sgt White had pointed the two men out to him at a court sitting in Letterkenny in 1997 and asked him to "do him a turn" and "set them up". He said Det Sgt White told him the two men were the main suspects for the murder of Richie Barron.

Mr Conlon subsequently admitted to the Carty Inquiry that his allegations concerning the silver bullet were lies.

Mr Conlon also claimed he was given money to make official complaints against Mr Frank McBrearty snr's nightclub in Raphoe, Frankie's. He said he was told to drink after hours in the club in August 1997 and allow his name to be taken by gardaí who raided the bar. He was then to testify in court that he had been there.

Mr Conlon alleged he was told by Garda Nicholson not to worry about his expenses and was paid several hundred pounds by him and by Det Sgt White.

The tribunal also heard of seven loss of earnings claims, totalling over £1,100, that were paid to Mr Conlon. Garda Nicholson was subsequently prosecuted over these fraudulent claims. He was convicted, given the probation act and then retired from the Garda.

Gda Nicholson and Det Sgt White both strenuously denied Mr Conlon's allegations, the tribunal heard.

Mr Charleton said that when questioned by the Carty Inquiry team in 2000, Gda Nicholson admitted contacting Mr Conlon in August 1997 and passing on a message from Det Sgt White for him to be in Raphoe the next evening. He denied ever giving Mr Conlon money or conspiring with Det Sgt White in respect of the McBrearty's.

Det Sgt White was arrested by the Carty team in March 2000 and questioned. He refused to comment, on the advice of his solictor, on most of the claims made by Mr Conlon.

Mr Charleton told the tribunal Det Sgt White had alleged the day prior to his arrest that his locker in Letterkenny Garda Station had been broken into and a number of personal effects and notebooks had been stolen. He told officers from the Carty Inquiry that all his notes in relation to the McBrearty family and Mr Conlon had disappeared, the tribunal heard.

Det Sgt White was suspended from duty but was later reinstated and transferred, at his request, to Harcourt Street in Dublin. He never turned up and has been off sick with "severe stress" ever since, the tribunal heard.