Morris tribunal: A retired garda has told the Morris tribunal he was under the impression that a private investigator working for the McBrearty family had written a letter seeking to bribe a witness to retract key evidence.
However, it later emerged that the letter was about a completely separate matter.
Retired garda John Nicholson, who was then stationed in Sligo said the witness, Bernard Conlon, must have told him this. He said Mr Conlon, whose evidence was later discredited, had told him that he got a letter from private investigator Billy Flynn, offering him thousands of pounds if he withdrew evidence.
"I vaguely glanced through it [the letter] and what I can recall of it was it was offering him a sum of money to withdraw his evidence that he had given in Donegal," he said.
But the letter concerned an investigation Mr Flynn was conducting into an incident in Meath, where Mr Conlon once lived. There is no mention of a bribe for withdrawing evidence in the letter and there is now a second page - whose origin is disputed - to the letter, the tribunal heard.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris said he found it "hard to accept" that as a serving garda, Mr Nicholson had not read the letter in detail.
Mr Conlon has told the tribunal that Det Sgt White told him to get caught drinking after hours in a nightclub in Raphoe owned by the McBreartys and then to give evidence for the State.
Mr Nicholson told the tribunal that when he organised a lift for Mr Conlon to attend Letterkenny District Court, he was not aware that Mr Conlon was going there to be questioned over an abuse of process by gardaí in prosecuting the McBreartys.
The court had heard claims that Mr Conlon had been "set up" by gardaí to ensure that the extended McBrearty family would be prosecuted under the liquor licensing laws.
Mr Paul McDermott SC, for the tribunal, pointed out that the court controversy would have had "direct implications" for Mr Nicholson as he had taken a key statement from Bernard Conlon.
Mr McDermott said there had been "great debate" in Letterkenny District Court in September, with adjournments to seek explanations from Sligo gardaí over the list of cases presented to the court.
Mr Justice Morris repeatedly asked "how could it be?" that Mr Nicholson did not know about the controversy, given that his team was implicated in the allegations. "How could you avoid being aware of it?" he said.
"Well I definitely wasn't aware of it and that's the truth," Mr Nicholson replied.
