Morris tribunal:A former detective garda has been asked by the Morris tribunal if he would have given a full account of how a disputed statement of admission was obtained if those asking him about the event had not been "inspired" to ask the right question.
Former detective John Fitzpatrick told the tribunal that Frank McBrearty jnr went off on rambling tangents while making the statement, complaining about gardaí and talking about his family, at the end of which he would continue with the admission.
Mr McBrearty has denied he made any admission while in Garda custody.
Mr Fitzpatrick told tribunal barrister Anthony Barr he had not given details of how Mr McBrearty's statement was obtained until tribunal investigators questioned him, because no one had asked him until then.
"Nobody asked me about it. In the guards if you're not asked about something, you don't volunteer it unless asked," he said.
Tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris asked if this meant he would not have given an account "unless they were inspired to ask".
"Are you telling me that you had useful and important information, which you abstained from informing them about, simply because they didn't ask you?"
"Yes," said Mr Fitzpatrick. "I had that information, but I wasn't asked about it. If I was asked about it I would tell them about it."
"Well is the position this, that there may be a great deal more information about this entire transaction, inside in your head, and simply because Mr Barr hasn't asked you about it, you're not going to tell us about it?" Mr Justice Morris asked.
"No, that's not it" Mr Fitzpatrick replied. "Mr Barr is asking me every question and I am answering every question to the best of my ability."
Mr Fitzpatrick said Mr McBrearty was not mistreated or shown post-mortem photographs of hit-and-run victim Richie Barron; he was able to describe them later because he was told about them at a "family meeting". He said Mr McBrearty's cousin's wife, Róisín McConnell, had been shown photographs by other officers.
Mr Barr said Mr McBrearty was able to describe the photographs the next day to his solicitor and a few days later, an employee of the McBrearty family also told gardaí that Mr McBrearty had been shown photographs.
Mr Fitzpatrick said: "I had to listen for years that there was no statement made and then inside the court here a file from a solicitor that said he was aware of a statement. I had to listen to this through the press, through the press and so forth."