Morris tribunal: An ongoing feud between members of two families in Co Donegal involved the making of "cut-throat" gestures and the sign of the cross as they passed each other in the street, the Morris tribunal into Garda corruption in the county heard yesterday.
Following the death of Richie Barron in 1996, members of the extended McBrearty family were suspected of being involved in Mr Barron's murder, although it was later accepted that he died following a hit-and-run accident.
The tribunal heard yesterday that for a long time after Mr Barron's death, the two families made regular complaints to gardaí that they were each being threatened by the other.
Garda Eamon Doherty, who was stationed in Raphoe, Co Donegal, from 1997 until 2001, told the tribunal there was an "ongoing rivalry" between the Barrons and the McBreartys. He said that whenever they passed each other in the street or while driving, they would make threatening gestures such as "drawing their fingers across their throats" or making the sign of the cross.
"It was increasing the workload for local gardaí," said Garda Doherty. "There were numerous statements taken and files prepared and forwarded for directions [ from the Director of Public Prosecutions]."
Garda Doherty was giving evidence in the so-called "silver bullet" module of the tribunal which is investigating allegations of threats made against Bernard Conlon by the McBreartys for being a State witness in a case of alleged breaches of the licensing laws.
This module concerns false claims made by Mr Conlon that he was threatened by being sent a silver bullet in the post by friends of the McBreartys because Mr Conlon was going to give evidence in court that he had been served alcohol after hours in the McBreartys' Raphoe nightclub, "Frankie's".
It has been alleged that gardaí coaxed Mr Conlon into making up the entire silver bullet affair as part of a campaign of harassment against the extended McBrearty family.
In May 1998, when the case was due before Letterkenny District Court, Garda Doherty was approached by Mr Conlon who was alleging a threat.
"He told me he had been intimidated and abused by members of the McBrearty family. He was called a State w***er," Garda Doherty told the tribunal.
The tribunal also heard evidence from Det Garda John McHale that Mr Conlon came to his attention in 1992 when he stole a wallet from a German backpacker in a hostel in Sligo.
Det Garda McHale said that at the time Mr Conlon had a "two-foot long" list of previous convictions. He admitted to the tribunal that the list of convictions had omitted some of Mr Conlon's offences. He had written the list out by hand and had given it to a clerical worker in Sligo Garda station to type up but that either he or the typist had omitted some convictions.
In 1999 counsel for the McBreartys requested a copy of Mr Conlon's full list of convictions. They then complained about it being incomplete, claiming it was evidence of a Garda cover-up.
"I couldn't say, seven years later, who made the mistake. I still can't," Det Garda McHale said. He denied there was anything suspicious about a meeting he had with Det Sgt John White in a Donegal town car park where he outlined the inaccuracies in the typed list of convictions that he had supplied.