A former garda accused of involvement in a £151,000 insurance fraud conspiracy in 1996 told detectives he saw a car and a truck lying in a ditch on a Leitrim bypass.
Mr Desmond McGonigle, attached to Carrick-on-Shannon Garda station at the time, had marked himself down for a 4 p.m.-midnight shift as a patrol-car driver on the night of what the prosecution alleges was a fake accident in Annaduff, Carrick-on-Shannon.
He told detectives in March 1997, and again after his arrest as a suspect in February 1998, he couldn't recall how long it took to remove the vehicles, and, when asked if a crane had to lift them, replied: "It would have had to." He said he arranged the removal with the Garda station.
When Det Garda James Fox put it to him that the accident never happened, he replied: "I went to the accident. The vehicles were there."
Mr McGonigle (58), Knockvicar, Boyle, Co Roscommon, and a lorry driver, Mr James Murphy (44), Main Street, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, deny involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the Guardian/PMPA by falsely pretending a traffic accident had occurred at Annaduff.
The prosecution has described it as "a dramatic accident that never happened" between a Rover car and a Scania truck.
The jury has been told the accused men are alleged to have conspired with, among others, businessman Mr Michael Byrne, Sligo Road, Longford; Mr Michael McDonald, Riverstown, Dundalk - a director of Portfleet Ltd, owners of the Scania transporter driven by Mr Murphy; and Mr Jeremiah O'Donovan, Fairview Terrace, Birr, who was the Rover driver.
Det Insp John McCann told Mr George Birmingham SC, prosecuting, that Mr McGonigle said in an interview on February 17th, 1998, the truck was lying on its side with the car about 10 feet away. He said both were badly damaged and there was "a sight of diesel oil" on the road.
Det Insp McCann agreed with defence counsel, Mr Peter Finlay SC, that there could also be a straightforward "non-sinister" explanation for the accused to seek the 4 p.m.-midnight shift.
Insp Aidan Glacken told Mr Sean Guerin (with Mr Birmingham), prosecuting, that during the March 1997 interview Mr McGonigle handed him and Insp Bernard Lydon a sheet of handwritten notes he said he had made at the time of the accident.
He had noted the lorry was "on its side" in the ditch, with the car facing it, and that both vehicles were there when the Leitrim County Council workers came to grit the oily road.
Insp Glacken said he arrested Mr McGonigle. Mr Eddie Byrne, a Guardian/PMPA claims manager, said the company paid out £151,000 in claims and expenses. The first claim settled was by Mr O'Donovan, the driver of the Rover who described himself as a builder's labourer. Mr O'Donovan claimed he had received injuries but wasn't hospitalised. He indicated he wasn't sure if he was to blame, as he thought the road was slippery, but that a garda at the scene had told him he was to blame for the accident.
The hearing continues.