Silver Bullet module: Bernard Conlon loved country and western music and often travelled to Frankie's nightclub, owned by the McBreartys, in Raphoe, Co Donegal.
The so-called "Silver Bullet" affair had its origin on July 20th 1997, when Mr Conlon complained to Sgt John White outside that the nightclub had failed to serve him a meal. This was the first time the two men met.
Following this, there was contact between Sgt White and Garda John Nicholson in Sligo, where Mr Conlon lived.
Mr Conlon was asked by Garda Nicholson at the behest of Sgt White to attend Raphoe on the evening of August 30th 1997 to be "found on" the premises with drinks in front of him after hours so they could prosecute Frank McBrearty snr and members of his family under the liquor licensing laws.
Mr Conlon was promised he would be paid for doing this.
In his report yesterday, Mr Justice Morris said Bernard Conlon was "an amenable and willing candidate" to carry out Sgt White's wishes.
This was "by reason of his grievance, as expressed on July 20th 1997 to Sgt White, his relatively low intellectual functioning level, his known capacity for mischief and crime, his desire for money and his disposition towards the McBreartys, whom he thought were ripping him off by not furnishing him with a meal".
Garda Nicholson was also an enthusiastic supporter of anything that would assist the Garda in Donegal to pursue the McBreartys or those believed to be implicated in the death of cattle-dealer Richie Barron in October 1996, said the report. The tribunal since found that he was a hit-and-run victim.
In September 1997, Mr Conlon was asked by Sgt White to make a statement to Garda Nicholson at Sligo Garda station about being "found on". Garda Nicholson co-operated in taking the statement, knowing that Mr Conlon had been planted as a witness.
Mr Conlon was summonsed to give evidence in court in Letterkenny and Donegal and he was paid witness expenses and travel allowances to which he was not entitled.
The expenses claims were submitted by Det Sgt White. The report said that bogus loss of earnings certificates on behalf of Mr Conlon were forged by Garda Nicholson and Sgt White had co-operated in procuring these forged certificates.
The report said Garda Nicholson lied to the tribunal by saying he obtained retrospective approval from Mr Conlon's employer.
In his report yesterday, Mr Justice Morris said the tribunal was satisfied that Det Sgt White and Garda Nicholson told lies in their evidence to the tribunal in respect of this issue.
"They also deliberately deceived their Garda colleagues as they tried to deal with these matters."
Supt Kevin Lennon, Letterkenny, became aware that Mr Conlon was being used as an agent and suspected wrongdoing. But he tried not to use Mr Conlon as a witness because he was afraid Mr Conlon would disclose the fact.
"In this he failed to comply with his obligations as the prosecuting officer to observe fair procedures and in his duty to the court," Mr Justice Morris said in his report.
In July 1998, Mr Conlon alleged that two men, whom he later identified as Mark McConnell and Michael Peoples, both members of the extended McBrearty family, had threatened him with a silver bullet at his home in Sligo.
Mr Conlon alleged he was put up to making this allegation by Det Sgt White. The report said this allegation was based entirely on Mr Conlon's own testimony, which was deeply flawed.
"There is no satisfactory independent evidence of Mr Conlon's allegations against Det Sgt White such as to warrant the conclusion that Det Sgt White conspired, induced or paid him to make this silver bullet threat allegation against Mr McConnell and Mr Peoples," the report said.
The two men were arrested and detained on foot on the allegations, but were released without charge.
These allegations were investigated by gardaí from Sligo. When Det Sgt White and Supt Kevin Lennon became aware of significant information relevant to the silver bullet threat investigation they failed to pass it on to the investigators in Sligo.
This information was that Mr Conlon was already fully familiar with the appearances of Mr McConnell and Mr Peoples and should have been able to recognise them immediately had they called to his door. Instead, Mr Conlon said in his witness statement the next day that he did not know them. Also, it emerged that Mr McConnell had an alibi for that night.
The information was not passed on to Sligo gardaí probably because Supt Lennon and Det Sgt White were engaged heavily in licensing prosecutions against the McBreartys and other issues arising out of the investigation into the death of Mr Barron.
"As a result, they were not particularly upset that Mark McConnell and Michael Peoples became the subject of this investigation. Instead, they were content to allow the genuine investigation by Insp Gerard Connolly and Det Sgt Michael Reynolds to proceed on an entirely false basis. This is shocking," Mr Justice Morris said.
During the hearings, Det Sgt White successfully demonstrated the unreliability of much of the testimony given by Mr Conlon, he added.
Det Sgt White made serious allegations concerning his Garda colleagues and the Carty Garda internal investigation team and also those in Sligo. The tribunal has determined that these allegations were false.
"Though the making of these false allegations heightened the tribunal's suspicion that he was, indeed, behind the silver bullet threat, nevertheless the undoubted lies which Det Sgt White told did not provide sufficient or satisfactory corroboration such as to enable the tribunal to accept the testimony of Bernard Conlon."
Module recommendations
• Changes in the structure, ethics, training and composition of An Garda Síochána to prevent a recurrence of the extraordinary events chronicled in all the tribunal reports.
• A mechanism to address the issues such as the Bernard Conlon saga within the Garda code of discipline.
• A streamlining of discipline regulations to make them less cumbersome so that issues such as the Bernard Conlon affair could be dealt with swiftly. Mr Justice Morris said the Bernard Conlon affair should not have been allowed to fester within the Sligo and Donegal Garda divisions. He also said it was grossly unfair to Mark McConnell and Michael Peoples, whose lives were overshadowed and continued to be affected by "this disgraceful affair".
• The use of a person as a Garda agent should be chronicled accurately and comprehensively.
• An agent should be used to gather evidence as a witness only with the full knowledge and approval of a senior officer.
• There should be full disclosure to the prosecuting authority, the defence and the courts about the use of an undercover civilian agent.
• The use of a person as an agent and witness should be subject to strict control and restricted to cases of strict necessity.
• Proper written guidelines should be introduced by the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner on the use of agents as witnesses.