Morris Tribunal: A senior garda has said he does not accept that a Garda informer acted alone in providing information used in a statement which triggered a series of arrests during the investigation into the death of Raphoe cattle dealer Mr Richie Barron.
The statement was made by Mr Noel McBride in November 1996, weeks after the cattle dealer's death. Later Mr McBride blamed a Garda informer, Mr William Doherty, for putting him up to making the statement.
"I don't accept, for one moment, that he did this off his own bat," Supt Joseph Shelly said.
Mr Brian Murphy BL, representing Garda John O'Dowd, Mr Doherty's Garda handler, pointed to six individuals named in the McBride statement, who were in Raphoe the night Mr Barron died. However, Mr McBride had got the details of each person wrong. "Did you cross check other statements against McBride's?" asked Mr Murphy.
"No I didn't," said Supt Shelly. "That work was being done in the incident room."
Mr Murphy said it made no sense to suggest that someone in the garda incident room would give Mr Doherty information to prepare a statement, and then feed him false information.
"He was given the information, and he had to get it from somewhere," Supt Shelly said.
Mr Murphy suggested that Mr Doherty had "conducted his own investigation". Of the people named in Mr McBride's statement, one was a relative, two were his friends, and the others were "all wrong". "I certainly don't believe Mr Doherty went out and conducted his own investigation," said Supt Shelly. "I know now that William Doherty was a source of Garda O'Dowd. You can't divorce that."