Barr Tribunal: A former British police officer has strongly criticised a number of the most senior gardaí in the State in their management of the Abbeylara siege.
Senior officers, including Assistant Garda Commissioner Tony Hickey, failed to adequately support gardaí at the scene of the siege, a former police negotiator, Mr Michael Burdis, told the tribunal.
Commissioner Tony Hickey and Chief Supt Patrick Tansey had attended the scene, but Mr Burdis said he found little to suggest they had been involved in the decision-making process.
He said other high-ranking officers in command of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) failed to ensure that gardaí on the ground were properly briefed.
"The failure of the force to give adequate support gives me great cause for concern."
He said Commissioner Hickey and Chief Supt Tansey placed too much responsibility on the scene commander, Supt Joseph Shelly. However, probably the most serious shortcoming was the failure to support the ERU negotiator, Det Sgt Michael Jackson.
Det Sgt Jackson had undergone a negotiator's training course a short time before the siege, but the training "bore no relation" to the events at Abbeylara, Mr Burdis said. The senior officers and not Det Sgt Jackson were to blame for this.
"It seems to make little sense to train an officer to an international standard in negotiations and then fail to give them adequate support."
Det Sgt Jackson was called to a "life-endangering situation" after already being on duty for 12 hours. The Garda failed to provide him with adequate rest periods, and he had been on duty for more than 22 hours before his first break.
The Garda failed to provide other negotiators as back-up, and did not provide Det Sgt Jackson with proper intelligence about Mr Carthy through a family liaison officer.
"I would take the view that Mr Jackson did his honest best to secure the safety of John Carthy . . . The failure to provide proper support to Mr Jackson was a serious shortcoming with the way this incident happened."
Det Sgt Jackson should have demanded intelligence on every aspect of Mr Carthy's life that could have affected the negotiations. "His failure to recognise the importance of this issue is an example of his lack of experience in my view."
