A detective inspector told the High Court yesterday that he would not have arrested another garda in 1991 on suspicion of being a member of the IRA if he had not been directed to do so by his then senior officer, now Garda Commissioner Patrick Byrne.
Det Insp Anthony Fennessy said he was acting on the direct orders of his senior officer at the time, Chief Supt Patrick Byrne when he arrested Garda Joe Walshe in 1991. Insp Fennessy added he accepted that neither Mr Walshe, now retired, nor Ms Kay Bedford, who was arrested on the same day in 1991, were members of the IRA.
If the decision was left to himself, he would not have arrested Mr Walshe, Insp Fennessy told Mr Justice Quirke and a jury. If left to his own devices, he would also have inquired further into suspicions contained in a secret C77 form, he added.
Insp Fennessy was being cross-examined in an action taken against him and the State by Mr Walshe (61), Dromin, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and Ms Bedford (58), Sir Harry's Mall, Limerick. They are claiming damages for alleged false imprisonment and slander arising out of being arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on September 27th, 1991.
Yesterday, Insp Fennessy told Mr Michael McMahon SC, for the plaintiffs, that Ms Bedford was totally mistaken in stating she had seen him at her house on September 27th. He said Det Sgt Gerry O'Shea was in charge of the search at her house and when she was arrested. Insp Fennessy said that the two plaintiffs had been arrested on the basis of secret information. Both of them had been named in a secret intelligence report, known as a C77. Mr Justice Quirke said the witness did not have to answer questions on its contents.
Earlier, Insp Fennessy said that when conducting his investigations in 1991 in the case of Garda Denis Kelly, who subsequently served a prison sentence, he had been threatened by a leading member of the Provisonal IRA and told that his children and wife would be shot. Referring to the arrest of Garda Kelly, Insp Fennessy said that, on September 27th 1991 Garda Kelly was in the communication centre of Henry Street garda station in Limerick when a fax was sent from Garda HQ marked "Secret", referring to the location of Provisonal IRA arms dumps.
He had told Garda Kelly to expect a very important fax and that the inspector was to be notifed of it. He said Garda Kelly had written down the particulars of the message and later made a phone call from a telephone box to a member of the IRA. Garda Kelly was then arrested.
The case continues today.