The scene commander at Abbeylara the night before Mr John Carthy was shot dead has clashed with the chairman of the Barr tribunal over his suggestion that senior gardaí did not question Mr Carthy's GP because it would bring to the forefront an allegation of police brutality.
Mr Justice Robert Barr intervened during the evidence of Supt Michael Byrne to ask why he, or any other senior garda, had not questioned Dr Patrick Cullen about his warning that Mr Carthy "would not be pleased to see the see the gardaí".
"Did you not attach any significance to the person most closely involved in Mr Carthy's mental health giving you this warning? Did it cross your mind why he was giving this warning?" Mr Justice Barr asked.
Supt Byrne said he presumed that if Dr Cullen had any further information he would have given it to gardaí.
Mr Justice Barr said it appeared gardaí were reluctant to "find out what was in Dr Cullen's mind" because it might lead to the disclosure that Mr Carthy had visited his GP in 1998 alleging police brutality.
Mr Carthy had claimed he was mistreated in police custody after his wrongful arrest for the burning of the Abbeylara football team's goat mascot in September 1998.
"One conclusion I might draw, and I haven't made any conclusions yet, is that no police officer enquired what Dr Cullen meant because they already knew and they didn't want it brought to the forefront," he said.
"That is not correct, chairman," Supt Byrne replied. He added that the seriousness of Dr Cullen's remarks had not occurred to him at the time.
In a heated exchange, Supt Byrne also denied the chairman's suggestion that he had sent a "junior officer" to talk to Dr Cullen at his house at 3 a.m. rather than have him come to the scene.
Supt Byrne said he had sent a garda of more than 20 years' experience, Det Garda James Campbell, whom he had "the greatest confidence in".
Mr Justice Barr said that the fact that the ERU negotiator, Mr Michael Jackson, had not sought personal contact with Dr Cullen added to his disquiet about the "apparent reluctance" to have Dr Cullen at the scene.
Mr Justice Barr later expressed astonishment that it took gardaí almost two hours to find Mr Martin Shelly in the village of Abbeylara after his presence had been requested by Mr Carthy.
Mr Carthy asked to speak to Mr Shelly, also known as "Pepper", shortly before midnight. Mr Shelly was not located until 1.45 a.m., even though he had been escorted to the house where he was staying by a member of the Garda.
Supt Byrne said the garda who had dropped Mr Shelly to Devines' house in the village had gone for "refreshments" and hadn't reported back.
When asked if he agreed that the delay might have aggravated Mr Carthy, Supt Byrne said he would have preferred if Mr Shelly was located "some time earlier".
Supt Byrne told the tribunal he had "no doubt" that Mr Carthy's sister, Marie, who had accompanied Mr Shelly to the scene, was drunk. "Marie was drunk at that stage, she was swaying, her speech was slurred, I have no doubt about that."
Mr Justice Barr asked Supt Byrne if he was saying Ms Patricia Leavy, who gave evidence this week that Ms Carthy was not drunk, was attempting to deceive the tribunal.
"She was incorrect, she obviously saw what I saw," Supt Byrne said.
