Morris tribunal: A Garda sergeant who was present at the arrest of Raphoe, Co Donegal publican Mark Quinn said Mr Quinn may have made allegations of abuse against gardaí because of his "outrage" and "hatred" at the arrest.
Sgt Joseph Hannigan, who was sergeant in charge at Raphoe station in 1996, told the Morris tribunal that Mr Quinn was not abused by him or his colleagues, Det Garda PJ Keating and Det Sgt Pádraic Scanlon. The tribunal is investigating claims by Mr Quinn and others that they were abused when they were arrested and held for their suspected involvement in the death of Richie Barron in October 1996. The tribunal has found that Mr Barron was the victim of a hit-and-run incident.
"I am sorry that a lot of people were arrested as a result of a flawed investigation and I know that the arrest of Mr Quinn impacted on him and his family," Sgt Hannigan said yesterday. "But I can say for a fact that he wasn't abused by me. He wasn't abused by Det Garda Keating. But I know and I accept that his standing in the community would have suffered because of his arrest and the investigation that had preceded it."
Ken Fogarty BL, for Mr Quinn, asked why his client would have made up allegations.
"Mark Quinn is possibly affected by a sense of outrage, maybe hatred at his arrest and the subsequent effect on his life, on his business, on his home life," Sgt Hannigan said.
Sgt Hannigan told the tribunal that he had got on well with Mr Quinn before his arrest. On December 4th, 1996, he was either "directed or asked" by Det Insp John McGinley to go to Raphoe to arrest Mr Quinn.
Sgt Hannigan said there was a feeling that Mr Quinn "knew more than he said". He asked his colleague, Det Garda Keating, to arrest Mr Quinn. "I was minded that I didn't really want to do it, given that I had to police that community afterwards."
Sgt Hannigan rejected the claim that Mr Quinn was dragged out of his car and thrown on to the bonnet during the arrest. "Absolutely not. It was a non-confrontational arrest," he said.
While in custody in Letterkenny, Mr Quinn alleged that Det Garda Keating had grabbed him by the lapels and hauled him across the table. He also alleged that the detective had shuffled bullets in his hand.
"No, chairman, that absolutely never happened," Sgt Hannigan said. "I can categorically state that I interviewed throughout the night with Det Garda Keating who never at any stage abused Mark Quinn. Det Garda Keating never carried a firearm in the interview room. He never assaulted Mark Quinn. He never had a handful of bullets."
He said he did not see post-mortem photographs being shown to Mr Quinn and he did not know of a Garda strategy to use these photographs.
Meanwhile, Det Sgt Scanlon told the tribunal that he did not tell Mr Quinn he was "low-life" and "lower than a snake's belly" while he was in custody.
"That phrase is totally foreign to me," Det Sgt Scanlon said.
