Morris Tribunal: A Donegal garda wrote to a telephone data protection officer on the instructions of his superintendent asking to have his telephone records erased in 1998, the Morris tribunal heard.
The request was made as lawyers for the McBrearty family were preparing to call witnesses from the phone company in court cases stemming from breaches of liquor-licensing laws and public-order offences.
Former Donegal garda Mr John O'Dowd said that during court cases in 1998, barrister Mr Martin Giblin SC was "making a pile of noise about the phone calls". Mr O'Dowd has admitted he was present when informer Mr William Doherty made a hoax extortion phone call from his home to Mr Michael Peoples, accusing him of murdering Raphoe cattle dealer Mr Richie Barron in October 1996.
Within days, Mr O'Dowd says he told Supt Kevin Lennon about the calls, and six months later, when a private investigator hired by the McBrearty family obtained phone records, he also told his chief superintendent, Denis Fitzpatrick.
Mr O'Dowd said that he recorded this conversation, and a later one with the chief superintendent, where he told him his informant claimed to have been tortured by the IRA. He had handed in the latter tape to the tribunal, but was unable to locate the earlier one.
Mr O'Dowd, who was dismissed by the Garda Commissioner last year, said that a letter dated May 19th, 1998, asking Telecom Éireann "to have details of my phone records erased" was written on the instructions of Supt Kevin Lennon. The letter was headed "Application under Section 6, Data Protection Act".
Tribunal barrister Mr Peter Charleton SC said Det Sgt John White had written a similar letter, but the sergeant said he had no memory of writing such a letter.
Mr O'Dowd said that prior to writing the letter he handed copies of his phone records to Insp John McGinley in January 1998. Supt Lennon would have known these were already "in the system". The tribunal previously was told that a Garda request for a trace on calls made to Mr Peoples resulted in a response from Telecom Éireann in late 1996 that they had no record of any incoming calls on the relevant date.