An action for damages by former Revenue tax inspector James Livingstone and his children against the State, arising from the conduct of the Garda investigation into the still unsolved murder of Mr Livingstone's wife in 1992, may run for eight weeks, the High Court heard yesterday.
Mr Livingstone (70) claims gardaí were guilty of negligence and breach of duty in the management of the investigation into the brutal murder of Grace Livingstone.
The action is also being taken by his daughter, Tara Beauchamp, and his son, Conor. Mr Livingstone claims that he and his children suffered emotional distress.
The State denies the claims. When the proceedings were mentioned yesterday, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill was told the hearing could last up to eight weeks.
Mr Justice O'Neill adjourned the matter to later this month with a view to fixing a hearing date.
In the proceedings, Mr Livingstone, The Moorings, Malahide, Co Dublin, has stated he came home from work on December 7th, 1992, and found his wife lying bound, gagged and fatally injured, having been badly beaten and with a gunshot wound to the head.
Mr Livingstone, who worked in the investigation branch of the Revenue Commissioners, has always pleaded that he had no part in his wife's murder and claims he supplied gardaí with the names of possible suspects, persons whom he had investigated for unlawful activities.
Mr Livingstone, in his statement of claim, said gardaí had told him he was hated at work because "all he ever did was sack people, and that his fellow employees had all cheered when they heard of his arrest, and that his fellow female employees were all terrified of him".
He also claims that gardaí said his neighbours were terrified of him and knew he treated his wife as a slave; that he trained youngsters to kill; that his daughter was a "whore" and that his son was a drug-abuser.
During the course of the Garda interviews, he alleged one detective produced a newspaper carrying banner headlines of Mr Livingstone's arrest and also produced photographs of his murdered wife lying in the morgue.
While he was voluntarily assisting gardaí in their investigation on December 29th, 1992, he said a detective sergeant called to his home and behaved in a "grossly abusive and insulting manner" towards his daughter.
Gardaí deny that Mr Livingstone fully assisted them in their investigation and deny that his "alleged innocence" or having no part in the murder of his wife were facts which ought reasonably to have been known to gardaí or ascertained by them.