A former detective sergeant has withdrawn allegations he made in an internal report that a solicitor acted against his client's interests to settle a claim. Gerard Cunninghamreports.
Former Det Sgt John White had made the allegations in an internal Garda report on the case of Edward Moss, who told gardaí he was withdrawing an allegation of assault against Frank McBrearty jnr in 1996.
Mr McBrearty jnr was later acquitted of the charge by a Letterkenny Circuit Court jury.
Strabane solicitor John Fahy, who represented Mr Moss, said that the allegations made by Mr White were "scurrilous" and "almost contradictory."
"On the one hand, I'm acting in concert with Mr McBrearty, on the other hand I appear to be trying to extort money from him," he said.
Det Sgt White said he had no experience with the solicitor, and the information in his report was based only on rumours.
"With regard to the allegation that I acted in concert with Mr McBrearty, I think the allegation is ludicrous," Mr Fahy said.
"It is a scurrilous remark to make and it appears now it's absolutely without justification."
"I withdraw those two paragraphs now in the knowledge I have now and I'm sorry if I have caused you any hurt," Det Sgt White said.
Earlier, the solicitor said that Donegal nightclub owner Frank McBrearty snr had counted out £100 in cash, which he then handed over to his client, Edward Moss, on condition that he would end all civil and criminal proceedings as a result of the injury. Mr Fahy said Mr Moss had "a fairly serious leg injury" and later told him "he was getting a sum of money".
"I didn't play any part in the agreement, in the terms or anything else. I was simply asked to go along with him to the meeting," Mr Fahy said.
The solicitor went to the meeting in "a little room" in the offices of Mr McBrearty snr's solicitors, where the publican counted out the money he gave to Mr Moss, who signed a discharge form. "It was my understanding that the money was being paid to Moss on the basis that it was going to end all criminal and civil proceedings," Mr Fahy said.
Former garda John O'Dowd said that Frank McBrearty jnr "went ballistic", banged his head against a wall and alleged that he had been assaulted by him [ John O'Dowd] during his arrest on February 4th 1997 following the complaint from Mr Moss.
Det Sgt John White had videotaped the arrest on a personal camcorder and, following the incident, he again used the camcorder to record a subsequent interview.
"It's very hard for the ordinary layman to believe that a man would just go up and bang his head off the wall. But he did, like. So it was better to have it on camera," Mr O'Dowd said.
"It's an awful pity that the video camera recording system wasn't in at the time."