Raphoe man Martin Quinn said yesterday that a relative of deceased cattle dealer Richie Barron had a copy of a witness statement that he made to a private investigator.
Mr Quinn said Paul Barron, a nephew of Richie Barron, showed him a typed copy of the statement.
"Paul says to me, 'Look, I have your statement in the car'," Mr Quinn said. "I said, 'Let me see it'." Mr Barron told him the statement was incorrect in saying that Mark McConnell had looked "cheerful" when he saw him the night the cattle dealer died.
Mr Quinn later made another statement to gardaí saying he had not told the private investigator that Mr McConnell was cheerful-looking. "I thought it wasn't a big deal, he was cheerful or he wasn't cheerful," he said.
"The only possible way he could have got that statement was through a guard," Mr McConnell later told tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris. "It looks as if the Barron family had in their possession statements during this investigation, and [were] intimidating witnesses."
Mr Quinn said he witnessed a row between Mr McConnell and Richie Barron the night the cattle dealer died. Army Cpl Michael McGahern said he saw Frank McBrearty jnr working the night Mr Barron died in Raphoe. Cpl McGahern worked part-time for the McBrearty family.
He was told the guards wanted to speak to him. "I went down to the Garda station. I met Garda John O'Dowd and Garda Phil Collins." He said Garda O'Dowd told him, "This is a can of worms, I hope you don't get caught up in the middle of it". Cpl McGahern said he made a complaint to the Garda Complaints Board about Garda O'Dowd's remarks.
Cpl McGahern said he saw Garda harassment of the nightclub owner in the months after Mr Barron's death. "I've been 32 years in the Army, I've been in Beirut a few times," he said. "I never seen anything like it in my life, what was going in Frankie's nightclub in Raphoe."