A Sligo garda submitted a forged certificate of expenses for witness Bernard Conlon, apparently without realising the full gravity and seriousness of what he was doing, the tribunal heard yesterday.
Solicitor Kevin Kilrane, who had a meeting with Garda John Nicholson in spring of 2000, said he thought the garda had considered it no "big sin", an almost innocent matter that in some way had developed an enormous significance.
To the extent that he did not understand the gravity of what he had been asked to do indicated a degree of naivety, Mr Kilrane said.
Mr Nicholson, now retired, submitted forged certificates for Mr Conlon for his court expenses when he appeared as a witness for the prosecution in a licensing case against the McBreartys. He pleaded guilty and was prosecuted for it in 2002.
Mr Kilrane, for whom Mr Nicholson waived client privilege, said the garda came into him the day after he had been questioned about the forged voucher by the Carty internal Garda investigation team.
Mr Conlon needed a certificate signed by an employer to get his expenses and Mr Nicholson was asked by the prosecution team in Donegal to resolve the matter.
Mr Kilrane said Mr Nicholson was intent on resigning from the force that day. "John Nicholson told me he did not himself procure the voucher, but he'd caused it to be procured. I myself got the impression, no more than a hunch, but got the impression it was from a Garda source."
Mr Nicholson did not blame anybody else, he added. "I don't think at the time he considered it anything more than a bureaucratic administrative little matter that had to be dealt with."
Mr Kilrane said: "John Nicholson sought to resolve it, not realising the full import of what he was doing and what might arise in the future. He had no idea apparently of the seriousness at the time."
Mr Conlon's counsel, Desmond Dockery, asked if Mr Nicholson had given him any reason to believe it was commonplace practice to procure dodgy certificates for small amounts of expenses.
Mr Kilrane replied: "No, I wouldn't go that far. But to the extent that he didn't consider it as any form of big sin when it happened, you can draw whatever conclusions one can draw from that."
He said Mr Nicholson struck him as a very conscientious, decent and honest man despite this glitch. "When he realised the gravity of what he'd done, he was in the most agitated state."