Report finds Co Donegal gardaí negligent

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Thursday June 02, 2005 11:36

by Betty

'..elements within the gardaí had set out to frame Frank McBrearty Junior...'

'The report also found that the system for reporting major incidents through Garda Headquarters to the Department of Justice is unsatisfactory.'

The Morris Tribunal has found that gardaí investigating the death of Richard Barron in Co Donegal were negligent in their duties and that the investigation was prejudiced.

The finding was made in the tribunal's second report on garda corruption in Co Donegal, which was published today by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell.

The report also found that the system for reporting major incidents through Garda Headquarters to the Department of Justice is unsatisfactory.

In his second report, Mr Justice Frederick Morris found that elements within the gardaí had set out to frame Frank McBrearty Junior and Mark McConnell for Mr Barron's murder.

Speaking at the publication of the report, Mr McDowell said it made for disturbing and depressing reading.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said the Garda Siochána Bill currently going through the Houses of the Oireachtas dealt fundamentally with issues of accountability within the force.

He said that when the bill is enacted we will have a better garda force.

Frank McBrearty Junior said the latest report did not go far enough.

He said he did not need Mr Justice Morris to tell him he and his family were innocent. He said the whole country knew this and he has been telling Michael McDowell this since he was Attorney General.

Fine Gael spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the Dáil now had to debate the findings of the report before its summer recess.

Labour's Joe Costello has insisted that there are still quite senior gardaí serving in Co Donegal who must share a great deal of the blame for what he called a shocking saga.

In a statement, Mr Costello said there was now a compelling case for the establishment of an Independent Garda Authority.

The second module of the tribunal examined the garda investigation into the death of Mr Barron in Raphoe in 1996.

Mr Barron was found in a pool of blood on a roadside leading out of Raphoe in the early hours of 14 October of that year.

Initially it was thought he was the victim of a hit-and-run but within days gardaí had re-designated the case to a murder inquiry.

Frank McBrearty Jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell were arrested and allege that gardaí forged a murder confession in Frank's name.

Numerous flaws were found in the garda investigation and following the exhumation and re-examination of Mr Barron's remains in 2001, the death was again re-designated a hit-and-run.

In his first report in July 2004, Mr Justice Frederick Morris found that two members of the Garda Síochána orchestrated the planting of ammunition and hoax explosives in Co Donegal.

Superintendent Kevin Lennon was sacked from the force, while Detective Garda Noel McMahon resigned following the findings of the report.

http://www.morristribunal.ie/images/19031973.pdf

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McDowell to consider sacking senior gardaí named by Morris

Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:42

Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent

The Government will consider dismissing senior members of the Garda Síochána criticised in the second report of the Morris tribunal, the Minister for Justice has said.

Michael McDowell pledged further Garda reform following Mr Justice Frederick Morris's report published yesterday, which finds gardaí were negligent in their inquiry into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron in a hit-and-run accident in October 1996.

Mr Justice Morris found the inquiry was "prejudiced, tendentious and utterly negligent in the highest degree". He singled out Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick (since retired), Supt John Fitzgerald, Det Supt Joseph Shelley and Det Insp John McGinley who "all share in various degrees the burden of fault for this matter".

Mr McDowell said senior members of the force criticised in the report would be written to and asked if they wished to comment before the Government decided on any action. "I cannot prejudge any statement they might make," he said.

He also said that any disciplinary proceedings against members below the rank of superintendent was a matter for the commissioner, who would have to act in accordance with legal advice.

The report has also been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr McDowell said.

The report's publication had to be brought forward to yesterday because an unknown individual hacked into the tribunal's computer system and obtained access to the report. Both Morris tribunal reports will be debated in the Dáil in two weeks.

Mr McDowell said the report's conclusions were "extremely serious, at times shocking". He congratulated Mr Justice Morris and his team for getting "as near as anyone could" to the truth "against a background of obstruction and mendacity".

The report said that from the moment Mr Barron's death was reported, gardaí were negligent in their investigation. They were "consumed" by the notion that Frank McBrearty Jr and his cousin Mark McConnell were guilty, though there had been no murder, and the two men were completely innocent.

Mr McDowell said he would immediately implement, through an amendment to the Garda Bill, the tribunal's recommendation that gardaí have to account for their actions as members of the force. Failure to do so could result in dismissal. He said the Garda Bill also provided for an ombudsman commission to investigate complaints against members of the force, and a Garda inspectorate to oversee its effectiveness and efficiency.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the Bill dealt with the issues of accountability and management of the force. "As soon as it is enacted, we will have a better Garda Síochána force," he said last night. "In areas [ where] there are cases of difficulty in the gardaí, it is a minority. But it does happen and we have to deal with that."

Mr McDowell said that the garda commissioner had undertaken a comprehensive review of the findings of the first report. Mr Noel Conroy would soon be making public his proposals for management reform within the force, he said. The garda commissioner said yesterday he was studying the second report.

The tribunal stressed the need for an independent body to investigate complaints against the Garda Síochána, the need for Garda headquarters to take a more pro-active role in the management of local divisions, and the need for better communication between the force and the Department of Justice.

The Garda Representative Association said it was saddened by the report's findings and the "unwelcome negativity" it brought on its members. The association called for mechanisms in the new Garda Bill to protect the rights of members against disciplinary actions taken by management.

"The GRA has consistently lobbied and argued for such a mechanism so that it does not have to revert to the courts for a finding on behalf of its members in respect of disciplinary procedures. These findings are matter of public record by the superior courts and the GRA believes the tribunal is sending a confusing signal by questioning the right of the GRA to seek these findings when no other options are available to it or its members."

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Report finds Co Donegal gardaí negligent

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