Morris tribunal:A retired detective superintendent said he felt it was okay to continue with the questioning of a Donegal publican in Garda custody after he received a letter from a hospital consultant saying further interrogation would not be in his best interests because of his medical condition.
Joseph Shelly said he was made aware of a letter from the consultant when Det Sgt Sylvie Henry showed it to him on the evening of December 12th, 1996, a week after Frank McBrearty snr was arrested on suspicion of intimidating witnesses.
Mr McBrearty had been released from hospital earlier that day, having been admitted on December 5th while in Garda custody with possible heart attack symptoms.
The letter from Dr Brian Callaghan said that any stress would exacerbate Mr McBrearty's condition and "it would not be in his best interest to be interrogated at this time". The consultant was considering referring Mr McBrearty to a cardiologist in Dublin for further tests.
"Had it said this person should not be further detained or should not under any circumstances be further interviewed, that would be the end of the matter," Mr Shelly told the tribunal. "I took it, and I honestly took it, that the letter so to speak left the door open for us in the circumstances.
"Whether I was right or wrong in forming that opinion is to be decided. We felt that it would be okay to proceed, whether we were right or wrong in that I don't know, but that's the call we made. Nobody said this should stop. It was a considered view of everybody there, taking everything into consideration, that we should go ahead."
Retired detective garda John Fitzpatrick, a former member of National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said he was briefed about a statement from a key witness before he questioned a Donegal publican arrested on suspicion of interfering with witnesses a decade ago.
Mr Fitzpatrick said he was told at a briefing the day before the interview with Frank McBrearty snr that "somebody had been bribed", but he did not recall whether he was given the information by senior officers or by Sgt Martin Moylan, who worked in the incident room.He knew the statement came from Robert Noel McBride, who later withdrew the false allegation.
He said the interview with Mr McBrearty where he put the allegation to him was not difficult, and Mr McBrearty was "cordial enough, a very proud man." He and Det Sgt John Melody met senior officers from Donegal before they interviewed Mr McBrearty, but were not told of the letter from his consultant.
British handwriting expert Kim Harry Hughes told the inquiry that contested signatures on four documents were "genuine signatures written by Frank McBrearty jnr".