A retired detective sergeant said yesterday he was shocked when he heard allegations that a garda mistreated a man under interrogation and did not know where they came from.
Hugh Smith said that he was involved in the arrest of Damien McDaid on December 11th, 1996. Mr McDaid was one of 12 people arrested in connection with the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron. The tribunal has found that Mr Barron was a hit-and-run victim.
Mr McDaid alleged that while in detention in Letterkenny Garda station Det Garda Seán Herraghty spat in his breakfast, stamped on his feet and put a gun in his mouth.
Mr Herraghty, now retired, denied the allegations at the tribunal on Monday and said they were sheer fabrication.
Mr Smith said yesterday that he was Mr Herraghty's sergeant in 1996. He said he was shocked when he heard the allegations against Mr Herraghty.
"The allegations are the most serious allegations I have ever heard levelled against any member of the Garda Síochána in any place in the country, and the Seán Herraghty described here is not the Seán Herraghty I know, and I wouldn't tolerate that behaviour, and in circumstances where it did happen, Seán Herraghty should be languishing in jail and not giving evidence at the tribunal because it's a horrible act even to contemplate, let alone carry out," Mr Smith said.
These allegations were very serious and he did not know where they were coming from, he said.
He said when he heard the allegations first he thought Mr McDaid was just "throwing it in" and it was prison talk or whatever because he had been in prison.