Morris tribunal: A Co Donegal detective said yesterday that if certain evidence had been checked, allegations made by Bernard Conlon against him could never have been corroborated.
Det Sgt John White started to go through 128 points in the evidence of Mr Conlon which he said were not fully investigated. If they had been checked, it would have shown the allegations could not be corroborated, he said.
He was not attacking the Carty internal Garda investigation team but he felt disadvantaged as some evidence was not sought or made available. Telephone records were not checked and would also disprove that calls were made by Mr Conlon to him, he said.
Mr Conlon had alleged Det Sgt White put him up to being found late-night drinking in a nightclub owned by the McBreartys in Raphoe to set them up.
He also claimed Det Sgt White told him to make up a story that two men called to his house and threatened him with a "silver bullet". Mr Conlon later falsely identified two members of the extended McBrearty family as responsible.
The allegations against Det Sgt White were made by Mr Conlon to the Carty team and Det Sgt White was arrested in March 2000. Earlier this year he was acquitted of perverting the course of justice and making false statements.
Det Sgt White said Chief Supt Austin McNally of the Carty team told the tribunal in July that he was arrested as there was sufficient corroboration of Mr Conlon's allegations. "I believe there was no such corroboration," he said.
He said telephone records would show that certain calls Mr Conlon said he made to him, including to Raphoe Garda station, were not made and that he was not there at the time.
People could have been interviewed, for example gardaí in Raphoe station. He believed that Tony Doyle, the man who shared Mr Conlon's house in Sligo, should have been interviewed. Mr Conlon alleged Det Sgt White visited his house and gave him money. He denied ever being at Mr Conlon's house or giving him money.
"I don't think Tony Doyle was ever interviewed about if he'd ever seen me in Sligo. He would have seen me at some stage if I'd been there," he said.
Earlier, the tribunal went into closed session at the request of Det Sgt White, who said he wanted to give evidence that on certain dates he was involved in crime and security matters. He would not be making any allegations against anybody or naming any officers. "All I want to show is that on certain dates I was in certain places and the events had a certain effect on myself," he said.
John Whelan SC, for Det Sgt White, applied for a closed session as he was about to begin examining his client. His client was anxious to deal with this aspect before he went into the balance of his evidence as so much would relate to the various points he wanted to "hang his hat on".