A PUBLICAN told the Central Criminal Court yesterday he was threatened, shouted at, bumped into and made to stand by gardai while being questioned about a fire at his home in which his wife and a baby girl died.
Mr Frank McCann denied setting the fire at his home on September 4th, 1992, in which his wife, Esther, and an 18 month old baby Jessica died.
He said he could not remember an interview with gardai on November 6th, 1992, which recorded his admitting to setting the fire. He said he had had very little sleep while being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act for a 48 hour period in Tallaght Garda Station from November 4th to 6th, 1992.
He said he had received medication for panic attacks during detention and that no notes were taken during parts of interviews.
He said he had signed notes of one interview which contained an admission from him that he had sent threatening letters and painted the words "Burn, you bastard" on a wall of his pub. Those notes were inaccurate, Mr McCann said.
He did not write or send any threatening letters, make threatening calls or paint the slogan on his pub wall, the accused said.
Mr McCann (36) was giving evidence on the 41st day of his trial. He has denied the murders of his wife, Esther (36), and baby, Jessica, at the family home at Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin, on September 4th, 1992.
The jury has heard that Jessica was a blood relative of the accused but not a child of his marriage to Esther. The prosecution has claimed that Mr McCann arranged the fatal fire because he did not want to tell his wife why the Adoption Board had refused the couple's application to adopt Jessica.
The jury has also heard that Mr McCann, who owned The Cooperage Pub in Blessington, Co Wicklow, had complained to gardai that he had received threatening phone calls to the pub and his home.
Mr McCann had just begun his evidence to the court last Thursday afternoon last when he began hyperventilate and tremble violently in the witness box.
A recess was granted and after an hour the judge told the jury that he had received medical opinion that Mr McCann was not fit to continue with his evidence. He adjourned the case.
In court yesterday, Mr McCann told Mr Barry White SC, defending, he had been interviewed by gardai for more than four hours on September 5th, 1992. He was told some 16 to 20 pages of notes were taken but at the end of the interview he was tired and just signed the notes without reading them or having them read over.
On November 4th, 1992, he was arrested at his pub. He said a senior garda had shouted at him in an upstairs room in the bar and called him "a murdering bastard". Mr McCann said another garda had suggested to him he commit suicide while they were travelling in a Garda car to Tallaght Garda station.
Mr McCann said he saw his solicitor shortly after arriving at Tallaght Garda station and they compiled a statement in relation to what happened on the Garda car and this was handed to the member in charge.
In the statement, Mr McCann said he was innocent of causing an explosion at his home and said gardai had threatened him.
Mr McCann said he was interviewed by gardai on the morning of November 5th and said certain gardai were quite threatening. He said he was slapped around the face with photographs of his dead wife and Jessica and was pushed and shoved around the room.
No notes were taken during some of the interviews and notes of some things he said were taken out of context and "twisted". He said he was shown a document opened at Section 52 and told he had to give an account of his movements or serve a prison term. He then answered the questions put to him.
Cross examined by Mr Kenneth Mills, prosecuting, Mr McCann agreed he had signed a statement he made to gardai on September 5th, 1992, referring to his noting the word "burn" circled beside the name of his bar in the phone directory.
The trial continues today.