A SENIOR garda wanted an e-mail which cast doubt on the credibility of FBI agent David Rupert suppressed, the Omagh bombing civil trial has been told.
The allegation was contained in an internal MI5 memo which was described in court as being like a “cheap James Bond novel”.
The document claimed that then chief superintendent – now Assistant Commissioner – Dermot Jennings sought to suppress an e-mail sent by Mr Rupert to his handlers in the British secret service in 1998.
In the e-mail, Mr Rupert said Mr Jennings was indifferent to terrorism in Northern Ireland and was only interested in illegal activity in the Republic.
According to the MI5 memo, Mr Jennings was “shocked” when the contents of this e-mail were put to him during a meeting between himself and an unnamed MI5 agent. The court heard Mr Jennings and Mr Rupert had met on several occasions before Mr Rupert sent the e-mail.
According to the internal MI5 document, Mr Jennings was told by the MI5 agent that if Mr Jennings denied the substance of the e-mail it would make Mr Rupert seem like an “untrustworthy source”.
“Jennings urged that the report be removed,” the memo states.
The agent suggested to Mr Jennings that the contents of the e-mail justified redaction – the blanking out of sensitive parts of it, according to the memo.
“There was a pause (presumably while the penny dropped in Jennings’ brain). He suddenly became more friendly. I explained that there were a few more such trickinesses in the paperwork that we were addressing. Jennings murmured understanding,” the memo which was drafted on February 8th, 2001, states. Reading it out, Michael O’Higgins SC described the memo as being “like a cheap James Bond novel”.
The testimony of Mr Rupert is seen as critical in the civil case being brought against Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, his alleged number two Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy, Séamus Mc- Kenna and Séamus Daly.
Mr Rupert infiltrated the Real IRA in the 1990s and was the principal witness in the criminal case which led to the conviction of Mc- Kevitt for directing terrorism in August 2003. McKevitt is now serving a 20-year sentence for that offence.
Mr O’Higgins, counsel for Mc- Kevitt, said one of the meetings between Mr Jennings and Mr Rupert had been an “abortion of a meeting in the back of a bread van” where the informant demanded more money.
“It was a matter of perception. Rupert was there to be paid, Chief Supt Jennings felt he was being tapped up for money that wasn’t owed,” Mr O’Higgins said.
“Chief Supt Jennings thought he was a con artist. Rupert told lies as far as Chief Supt Jennings was concerned.”
Det Insp Diarmuid O’Sullivan, who was in charge of the Garda investigation into the McKevitt case, said Mr Jennings’s comments were not part of his remit.
“That was a statement made by Mr Jennings. He was tendered as a witness to the defence [in the Mc- Kevitt case] and they chose not to use him,” he said.
“We’re talking about a situation where an experienced police officer has formed a judgment that this man is trying to extort money from him and tell lies in the process. If that is the case, why wasn’t it recorded?” Mr O’Higgins asked.
Det Insp O’Sullivan explained there was often conflict between informants and their handlers. “You can’t report on every aspect of the disagreement or else you would get nowhere,” he said.
Det Insp O’Sullivan said the credibility of the witness was not as important as the credibility of his evidence, and the garda was able to corroborate the evidence provided by Mr Rupert to convict McKevitt.
He also defended Mr Jennings. “I know the commitment he gave to ensure that every aspect of terrorism in Northern Ireland was investigated,” he said.
The case continues.
