A dismissed detective sergeant has brought a High Court challenge aimed at overturning findings made against him by the Morris tribunal in its report of an arson attack on a mobile phone mast in Co Donegal, including that it was he who caused a device to be placed on the mast.
John White may also seek leave later to challenge two other reports of the tribunal, the court was told yesterday. Those and the report on the mast incident were published in August 2006.
Mr White claims the tribunal has breached his constitutional rights and is "guilty of bias in its dealings with me". Following the tribunal's findings, he had been dismissed from the Garda Síochána and the tribunal's conduct had exacted a heavy personal, medical and financial toll on himself and his family, he claims.
He had also been refused most of his legal costs of dealing with the tribunal.
Mr Justice Michael Peart yesterday granted leave to Cormac Ó Duallacháin SC, for Mr White, to bring judicial review proceedings challenging the Morris tribunal's report on the Garda investigation into the attack on the mobile phone mast at Ardara, Co Donegal, in October and November 1996.
In particular, Mr White is seeking orders overturning the tribunal's findings that he was in charge of the investigation into the arson attack, that he had failed to act as an investigating officer would have been expected to act, and had "rushed" the arrest of suspects following the discovery of an apparent device at the scene on November 19th, 1996.
He claims there is no evidence for the finding that he had engaged in wrongdoing and had caused the device to be placed on the mast for the purposes of effecting arrests of certain persons under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
Among a large number of other findings which he is also seeking to have quashed is the finding that his account of his involvement in the investigation into the arson attack was riddled with inconsistencies and could not be accepted. He also disputes findings that he manipulated the investigation and, in particular, Supt Denis Cullinane.
In its investigation into the mast incident, Mr White claims the tribunal failed to conduct a proper and adequate inquiry into the claims in that it called no evidence as to his movements at the relevant times, no evidence connecting him to fireworks stored at Glenties Garda station, and no evidence to establish he had keys of the mast compound at the relevant time.
In relation to one particular finding - that Mr White had removed a pot of glue from a shed owned by Bernard Shovlin on November 8th, 1996, and possibly replaced it at another time - Mr White contends this is manifestly wrong because the "uncontroverted evidence" was that he was not on duty on November 8th 1996.
He also claims that particular allegation was not made until nine years after the alleged incident in question.