A Donegal detective has denied he told Bernard Conlon to lie that a private detective hired by the McBreartys tried to bribe him into changing evidence in court.
Det Sgt John White told the tribunal yesterday that the allegation had stood on his shoulders for 5½ years but he had nothing to do with it.
Mr Conlon claims Det Sgt White told him to make up the story of bribery by private detective William Flynn to change evidence in a licensing case against the McBreartys. Mr Flynn was hired by them to clear their name.
Mr Conlon also claims Det Sgt White put him up to being deliberately found late-night drinking at the McBreartys' nightclub in Raphoe to set them up and that the detective told him to say that two men had called to his home in Sligo and threatened him with a "silver bullet".
Det Sgt White told Paul McDermott SC, for the tribunal, he had not been in touch with Mr Conlon before April 1999 for quite a long time. "Unless I used telepathy, I could not get into Mr Conlon's mind to make this false complaint because there was no telephone contact before that for quite a long time," he said.
He would certainly not "get a criminal to make a false allegation against a man like Mr Flynn for any reason" because he would have to go to the court and his career would be over. "Mr Conlon did it himself and he obviously blamed me afterwards for it, again, to lighten his own load."
He said the Carty internal Garda investigation team, which arrested him in March 2000, should have investigated it in a proper manner. He was acquitted this year in Letterkenny Circuit Court of perverting the course of justice and making false statements.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris ruled on an application by solicitor Tom Murphy, for the Garda Representative Association, to come off record for retired Sligo garda John Nicholson. Mr Murphy said last week that Mr Nicholson, who was to be recalled as a witness, was in St Patrick's hospital.
The chairman had ruled that the tribunal's medical officer examine him. He directed the registrar to write to Mr Nicholson that nothing indicated he was under any disability that would preclude him from attending the tribunal and representing himself.