'Spontaneous answers' blamed for omission

A senior Garda officer was questioned at the Morris Tribunal about why he failed on three occasions to tell the truth about the…

A senior Garda officer was questioned at the Morris Tribunal about why he failed on three occasions to tell the truth about the staged arrest of an alleged informer in 1994. Gerard Cunningham reports.

When interviewed by the Carty internal garda inquiry, Supt Kevin Lennon denied that the arrest of alleged Garda informer Ms Adrienne McGlinchey was a charade, that he had spoken on the phone to Det Garda Noel McMahon before she was arrested, and that he had spoken about Ms McGlinchey's flat to Supt John O'Connor and Supt Denis Fitzpatrick.

"You have had the opportunity to tell Carty it was a charade in furtherance of a legitimate Garda operation. You had the opportunity in giving a correction to Carty. You had the opportunity in talking to the tribunal team," Mr Paul Murray, for Ms McGlinchey, said.

Supt Lennon said he had not been prepared or had a chance to refer to his records before being interviewed by the Carty team. "It wasn't conscious or deliberate omission," he said. "It was an omission."

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Supt Lennon said he gave "spontaneous answers" to the Carty inquiry, and had not had a chance to collect his thoughts. "I did my best to answer the questions as best I could, and I continue to do that based on my memory of events."

Supt Lennon and Det Garda McMahon are alleged to have arranged bogus arms finds in Donegal a decade ago.

Both gardaí deny the allegations by their alleged informer Ms Adrienne McGlinchey, and Ms McGlinchey denies she was ever an informer. Supt Lennon told the Carty inquiry he was not at Ms McGlinchey's flat when she was arrested, and had not taken part in her interrogation.

He also said Det Garda McMahon told him on March 15th, 1994, that Ms McGlinchey was at his house the previous day before she was arrested at her own flat.

"He said he had no other means of meeting her," Supt Lennon said. "He went to pick her up at her work and took her to his house. He said he was trying to elicit information. She would talk more to him than she would in custody."

Supt Lennon was giving evidence for the sixth day.