Mahon to send Lawlor file to DPP for tribunal 'obstruction'

The Mahon Tribunal is to send a file to the DPP over allegations that the former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, lied under oath during his evidence.

Mr Liam Lawlor: file to be sent to the DPP

The three-judge panel was satisfied, however, that Mr Lawlor had finally complied to the best of his ability with an order of discovery made in March this year.

The order was seeking documentation relating to the sale of one acre of land beside Mr Lawlor's home in Lucan, Co Dublin in November 2001 and how the proceeds of this sale, amounting to around £690,000, were dispersed.

The tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, in a written ruling delivered this afternoon, said it was the tribunal's opinion that Mr Lawlor had given evidence that he knew was false.

Mr Lawlor was unco-operative, obstructive and lacking in co-operation to a degree which can only amount to a very serious attempt to knowingly mislead, obstruct and hinder the tribunal tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon

Judge Mahon said that during his evidence on July 8th, Mr Lawlor was "evasive, dismissive, unco-operative, obstructive and lacking in co-operation to a degree which can only amount to a very serious attempt to knowingly mislead, obstruct and hinder the tribunal in its work."

He specifically noted two elements of Mr Lawlor's oral evidence that he said amounted to a "blatant disregard for the truth". The first relates to evidence about two payments, of £100,000 and £17,500, to Mr Lawlor by Mr Michael Whelan of Maplewood Homes. The second is the invoice from Seddon's solicitors for this amount, which the tribunal has established was forged by Mr Lawlor.

"In both instances the tribunal is satisfied that Mr Lawlor gave evidence under oath which he knew to be false and did so for the purposes of obstructing or hindering the work of the tribunal," Judge Mahon said. He said transcripts of this evidence would now be sent to the DPP.

In his ruling, the chairman noted Mr Lawlor has now furnished the tribunal with 17,000 pages of documentation relating to the sale of the land. He said he was "reasonably satisfied" Mr Lawlor had complied with the order "insofar as he may be able to do so at present." Judge Mahon said he also accepts Mr Lawlor's claims he did all he could to secure files from a number of solicitor's firms in Gibraltar and Jersey.

He said although it took a substantial amount of time and threats of legal action for Mr Lawlor to finally produce the documents, there was no legal provision to send a tribunal witness to the High Court merely for "punitive purposes" when he had complied with the tribunal's orders, however belatedly.

Therefore, Judge Mahon said he would not be sending him to the High Court to face a possible fourth prison sentence for disobeying the tribunal.

Judge Mahon also said he would consider whether or not to award costs against Mr Lawlor for this section of the tribunal's inquiry.

Mr Lawlor refused to comment on the ruling. "The chairman' opinion is his opinion, I have my opinion."

Mr Lawlor has served three separate prison terms for not obeying orders made by the former tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Feargus Flood.

Mr Lawlor was first jailed in January 2001 when he was handed a seven day sentence and a fine of £10,000 (€12,700) for non-compliance with the tribunal.

In July 2001, he was jailed for a further week and fined £5,000 (€6,350). Mr Lawlor appealed this sentence to the Supreme Court. Although the court allowed him leave to travel to New York for Christmas rather than be jailed immediately, as directed by the High Court, it upheld the decision to jail him. He served his sentence in January 2002.

He received a one-month sentence and a €12,700 fine the month after being released from prison for his continued failure to provide the financial records requested by Mr Justice Flood.