GARDA PROBE LAUNCHED INTO DISCREDITED WITNESSES FROM FORCE
Garda probe launched into discredited witnesses from force
BY JOHN McCUSKER
THE Gardai have begun a criminal investigation into the activities of a number of members of the force arising from the Colm Murphy trial.
During the hearing, the court found that Garda interview notes had been falsified and that the evidence of two detectives was entirely inadmissible.
Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne this week set up an inquiry into the activities of two of the officers involved in the investigation, and asked that the outcome be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The evidence of one of the teams of investigators, Det Garda Liam Donnelly and Det Garda John Fahy, was ruled as inadmissible during the trial when it was proved that a page of the notes of one interview had been falsified. When the gardai involved discovered this, they removed it, but a forensic test showed the existence of the note of false evidence.
During the trial the presiding judge, Justice Barr described Garda Donnelly and Garda Fahy as "discredited witnesses", and their conduct as "outrageous", saying they had been involved in "persistent lying on oath" under cross examination.
Garda Donnelly had been guilty of "patent falsification", he said. This "taints the prosecution and has consequences which extend beyond the interview notes".
But announcing their verdict, the three judges concluded that this had not tainted the activities of other interrogators.
"If the wrong doing had been that of a senior officer, of which his juniors may have been aware, there would be a substantial case to be made that his wrong doing may have percolated down," Justice Barr said. But in the absence of any evidence connecting other officers with Garda Donnelly's wrong doing, "there is nothing to establish that it might have percolated upwards or outwards".
Commissioner Byrne this week ordered a full investigation into "issues related to the case and the activities of certain gardai."
It followed a comment from Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty after the conviction of Colm Murphy, that the Commissioner took the criticisms like those made by the court very seriously and would take action to address them.
Speaking to journalists outside the court, Mr Carty paid tribute to the investigating teams from the Garda and the PSNI, and to the prosecution legal team. He said this was a significant milestone in the attempt to bring the perpetrators of the Omagh bombing to justice, and stressed that the investigation was still "very much alive".
In a statement on the Donnelly and Fahy aspect of the case, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties called on the Minister for Justice to publish immediately a Bill to establish a Garda Inspectorate and to expedite the introduction of video-recording facilities in all police stations.
BY JOHN McCUSKER
THE Gardai have begun a criminal investigation into the activities of a number of members of the force arising from the Colm Murphy trial.
During the hearing, the court found that Garda interview notes had been falsified and that the evidence of two detectives was entirely inadmissible.
Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne this week set up an inquiry into the activities of two of the officers involved in the investigation, and asked that the outcome be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The evidence of one of the teams of investigators, Det Garda Liam Donnelly and Det Garda John Fahy, was ruled as inadmissible during the trial when it was proved that a page of the notes of one interview had been falsified. When the gardai involved discovered this, they removed it, but a forensic test showed the existence of the note of false evidence.
During the trial the presiding judge, Justice Barr described Garda Donnelly and Garda Fahy as "discredited witnesses", and their conduct as "outrageous", saying they had been involved in "persistent lying on oath" under cross examination.
Garda Donnelly had been guilty of "patent falsification", he said. This "taints the prosecution and has consequences which extend beyond the interview notes".
But announcing their verdict, the three judges concluded that this had not tainted the activities of other interrogators.
"If the wrong doing had been that of a senior officer, of which his juniors may have been aware, there would be a substantial case to be made that his wrong doing may have percolated down," Justice Barr said. But in the absence of any evidence connecting other officers with Garda Donnelly's wrong doing, "there is nothing to establish that it might have percolated upwards or outwards".
Commissioner Byrne this week ordered a full investigation into "issues related to the case and the activities of certain gardai."
It followed a comment from Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty after the conviction of Colm Murphy, that the Commissioner took the criticisms like those made by the court very seriously and would take action to address them.
Speaking to journalists outside the court, Mr Carty paid tribute to the investigating teams from the Garda and the PSNI, and to the prosecution legal team. He said this was a significant milestone in the attempt to bring the perpetrators of the Omagh bombing to justice, and stressed that the investigation was still "very much alive".
In a statement on the Donnelly and Fahy aspect of the case, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties called on the Minister for Justice to publish immediately a Bill to establish a Garda Inspectorate and to expedite the introduction of video-recording facilities in all police stations.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0928
Published Date: 24-Jan-02
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