A Donegal garda detective has admitted assisting a fellow officer in planting a sawn-off shotgun at a Travellers encampment in Burnfoot four years ago, the Morris tribunal heard.
Det Garda Thomas J. Kilcoyne told the internal garda investigation, the Carty inquiry, that he "felt like a criminal" when he took part in the operation, which he claimed was organised by Det Sgt John White, in May 1998.
However, he said, Det Sgt White "was my sergeant and more experienced than me", and "I felt it wasn't my place to tell him it was illegal."
Seven people were arrested during a subsequent garda "search" at the site, which was purported to have formed part of investigations into the death of pensioner Mr Edward Fitzmaurice in Charlestown, Co Mayo on May 6th 1998, as well as the theft of a number of trailers from Det Sgt White's private property at Ballybofey.
Revealing the allegations yesterday, Mr Peter Charleton SC, counsel for the tribunal, said they raised a number of questions, including whether Det Sgt White engaged in "the deception" of his superintendent in relation to the issuing of search warrants.
Mr Charleton noted the shotgun had no trigger guard and was left in a "particularly dangerous condition. The barrel was pointing upwards in a plastic bag. This was a holdall bag hanging at the rear of a large galvanised door. Some children's clothing was on top of the bag."
Det Garda Kilcoyne claimed the events subsequently played upon his mind, and he said he approached Det Garda J. Foley and told him he had a concern about work, without specifying the cause of it. He did not disclose the allegations, however, until interviewed by the Carty inquiry team.
Det Garda Kilcoyne explained he had been with Det Sgt White in Ballybofey before the "find" and the latter "told me that he had a sawn-off shotgun" which he was going to place at the caravan site.
"He said to me (Detective Chief Superintendent) Dermot Jennings said: 'There is a gun there' and he said to me it had to be found." Det Garda Kilcoyne said he had heard that the Travellers were dangerous and did possess a weapon for "self defence", and he presumed this information to be correct. "So what Sergeant White was suggesting was in my mind unnecessary, not to mention illegal."
He said Det Sgt White, who denies the allegations, drove him to a lock-up in Gortacor where he showed him the shotgun. He said it was "the most frightening thing I saw in my life . . . Sgt White suggested we test it to see if it worked," and he did so with a clay blank, said Det Garda Kilcoyne.
Later, he said they drove to Burnfoot, adding: "When we got to the edge of the farm buildings, approximately 150-200 yards from the site I felt sick. I felt like a criminal. I felt everything in my head was telling me I shouldn't be here, to get out, but I felt it had gone too far and I had no control of events.
"The dogs started barking . . . but he said keep your eyes open and he stepped into the shadows of the buildings. When he emerged I knew he had planted the gun . . . He was happy with the operation and all I could hope for was that the real gun would be found and that there would be no need to find this one, the planted one."
Mr Charleton said the tribunal would have to establish which garda, "if any of them", was telling the truth. Was it the case that Det Sgt White engaged "in a series of charades" to impress his colleague? Or, Mr Charleton asked, was Det Garda Kilcoyne "painting himself as naïve beyond the point of credibility"?
