A prison officer supervising a prisoner whose jaw was allegedly broken by another officer told a jury that he met his governor in a pub to ask him for support.
Mr Finbar Burke had earlier told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury he witnessed the accused kick the prisoner twice in the face as he was being moved after a riot had ended.
He said he feared the repercussions of naming a colleague and met his governor and union representative to get advice on how to proceed.
Mr Alan Garvey (32), c/o Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm and assault causing serious harm to the prisoner on September 18th, 1999.
Mr Burke agreed with Mr Patrick MacEntee SC (with Mr Des Zaiden), defending, during cross-examination that his version was that his team had acted like perfect gentlemen while the accused had assaulted the prisoner for absolutely no reason.
He denied he was a leader of a "mafia" group in Mountjoy who organised a malicious framing of the accused and tried to intimidate him into saying he carried out the assault when it was in fact Mr Burke's own team.
The trial continues today before Judge Dominic Lynch and the jury.