A BSE trial was interrupted yesterday when it was suggested that the garda∅ got a farmer to admit guilt in a fraudulent compensation case because he had pornographic material.
James Sutton, of Kilgariffe, Clonakilty, Co Cork, did not have an opportunity to respond to the suggestion by counsel for the defence because the trial went into legal argument.
The farmer is a prosecution witness at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in the trial of two cattle-dealers, Andrew and Bryan Wilson, of Bandon and Dunmanway, Co Cork, who have denied attempting to make a fraudulent BSE compensation claim.
When the jury returned, counsel for the defence, Mr James O'Mahony, said that at his own trial Sutton had initially pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the Department of Agriculture of BSE compensation.
Mr O'Mahony said that 11 days into the trial he had changed his plea to guilty.
Sutton replied "yes" in court yesterday when asked if he had claimed that garda∅ had threatened to tell the press of certain personal matters unless he changed his plea.
The court was also told that Sutton had presented a previous BSE suspect animal in 1995. The animal was inspected and had subsequently tested negative for BSE.
Sutton denied suggestions from counsel for the defence that he had researched what was involved in terms of compensation when an animal tested positive for BSE.