A garda sergeant who denies he planted a firearm six years ago at a Travellers' campsite at Burnfoot, Co Donegal, has secured a High Court order preventing his prosecution.
The order applies pending the determination of Sgt John White's legal claim that he cannot receive a fair trial because of the failure of the gardaí to preserve and provide material evidence.
Sgt White, with an address in Ballybofey, Co Donegal, claims the State has acknowledged losing 15 of 28 audio tapes which gardaí seized from his house in June 2004. He also claims that, out of 62 original documents which were requested, 48 had been lost, mislaid or were not available.
Among the material which Sgt White claims is missing is a tape which, his solicitor claims, would show he had bona fide information that the shotgun was already at the Traveller camp.
Mr Damien Crawford, for Sgt White, said the principal evidence against his client came from statements made by a colleague, Garda Thomas Kilcoyne. One of the elements in the case was the disappearance of a holdall which allegedly contained a double-barrelled shotgun and clothing.
In an affidavit, Sgt White's solicitor, Mr Patrick A. Dorrian, said it was clear from Garda Kilcoyne's statements that, if his account was correct, then he, too, was an active participant in the alleged crime. Yet, to Sgt White's knowledge, Garda Kilcoyne had never been charged with any offence by the DPP. It appeared that Garda Kilcoyne had been granted immunity from prosecution or some form of accommodation by the DPP in return for his testimony against Sgt White, Mr Dorrian said.
Garda Kilcoyne had given conflicting statements on the manner in which Sgt White allegedly brought a firearm to the camp. In one statement, he said Sgt White carried the gun in a briefcase. In another, Sgt White was alleged to have carried it with clothing in a hold-all. Garda Kilcoyne said Sgt White had had this holdall at Gortahork, Co Donegal, some 35 miles from Burnfoot.
In May 1998, it appeared that a Sgt Niall Coady located a hold-all containing a double-barrelled shotgun. The Book of Evidence referred to a copy of photographs, signed and dated by Garda Kilcoyne, showing the hold-all and clothing, firearm and cartridges. Mr Dorrian said it now appeared that the DPP had lost or was unable to locate the bag, clothing and cartridge so that they could be examined by Sgt White's experts.