The man at the centre of a 25-hour siege in Co Longford in April telephoned a friend a few hours before he was shot dead and said he would surrender if his solicitor was contacted.
Mr Carthy called Mr Kevin Ireland in Galway shortly after midday on April 20th, and told him the solicitor he wanted was Mr Michael Finucane.
"He said, `I'm in the house here and there must be 60,000 c.... of guards outside with guns'," Mr Ireland recalled yesterday.
Mr Ireland asked him if he was all right and told him not to do anything stupid. Mr Carthy said he was only shooting into the air to keep the gardai away.
Mr Ireland advised him to give himself up. Mr Carthy said he would not give himself up until he got a solicitor and he mentioned Mr Finucane. Mr Ireland said he would get a solicitor for him and the phone went dead.
Mr Ireland said he went to Mill Street Garda station in Galway at 1.30 p.m. and told them about his six-minute call with Mr Carthy.
A garda in Galway phoned Granard station and Mr Ireland spoke to Granard station and said Mr Carthy would give himself up if he got Mr Finucane, a solicitor in Dublin.
Some time before, when Mr Carthy was picketing a Galway building site unofficially after he was allegedly sacked in the wrong, SIPTU warned he could be arrested. Mr Carthy gave Mr Ireland Mr Finucane's name and address and said if he was arrested to contact him.
Sgt Daniel Monaghan, the garda who took Mr Ireland's call at Granard, said the call was at 2.30 p.m. and Mr Ireland said the solicitor Mr Carthy wanted was Mick or John Finucane. He asked Mr Ireland if he could get a definite name and address and he said he had never heard of him before.
Sgt Monaghan said he immediately called directory inquiries while two colleagues looked up the golden pages and the 01 telephone directory. They did not find Mr Finucane's number.
Counsel for the Carthy family, Mr Paul Greene, asked if he made contact with any mobile phone companies for directory assistance. "I did not," the sergeant replied.
Counsel asked if he was aware who the State solicitor for Longford was. Sgt Monaghan said he did. "Did it not occur to you to call the State solicitor for Co Longford?" Mr Greene asked.
"Not at that time," the sergeant said.