The Barr tribunal was yesterday forced to stop its proceedings for a second time, when another witness made an allegation against a garda which had not been contained in his statements to the tribunal.
Mr Martin Shelly, a friend of John Carthy, told the tribunal that he believed Det Garda Michael Sullivan, the assistant to the Emergency Response Unit negotiator at the scene in Abbeylara, had been told about an allegation of Garda brutality Mr Carthy had made in 1998.
He had claimed he was assaulted by gardaí in Granard Garda station after his wrongful arrest for burning the Abbeylara football team's goat mascot in September 1998.
To date, no garda who was at the siege at Abbeylara in April 2000 when Mr Carthy was shot dead by gardaí has admitted to being aware of this allegation.
Mr Shelly said yesterday that he was there the night the siege began when Det Garda Sullivan was told by either Mr Carthy's sister, Ms Marie Carthy, or his cousin, Mr Tom Walsh, that "John didn't like the guards and they had better give him breathing space".
When asked by counsel for the tribunal, Mr Raymond Comyn, if Det Garda Sullivan knew of Mr Carthy's assault allegation, Mr Shelly replied that he believed he had been told. The chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Barr, then halted proceedings when it emerged that this allegation had not been part of Mr Shelly's statement to the tribunal.
This is the second time in two days of hearings that the tribunal has been forced to stop due to the introduction of fresh evidence.
Last Friday the tribunal had to adjourn when Mr Tom Walsh said he had told Garda John Gibbons about the same assault allegation. Mr Walsh had not mentioned this in his statements to the tribunal and was told he would have to furnish an additional statement and return to the witness box at a later date.
Mr Shelly has also been ordered to make a supplementary statement; however, he was allowed to finish his evidence to the tribunal yesterday, but will have to return later for cross-examination.
Earlier Mr Shelly told the tribunal that he had been given no protective equipment by gardaí when he was taken to speak with Mr Carthy. Mr Carthy had asked to speak to Mr Shelly shortly before midnight, six hours after the siege began.
He was brought to the scene two hours later. Mr Shelly said he was brought to the negotiation point outside the Carthy house by Det Garda Sullivan, who told him to "crouch down" as he walked.
When asked if gardaí had given him a protective jacket or a helmet, such as those worn by the ERU members at the scene, Mr Shelly replied: "No, I just had my leather jacket and jeans."
Ballistic shields had not been used to cover him, he said, even when he passed the open gate of the house. Mr Carthy had fired up to a dozen shots at this time.
The ERU tactical commander at Abbeylara, Det Sgt Gerard Russell, who is the first ERU member to appear before the tribunal, also said he had trained as a psychiatric nurse at St Loman's psychiatric hospital in Mullingar before joining the Garda.
The tribunal has already heard on a number occasions that Mr Carthy had been admitted to that hospital several times but told relatives he hated going there.
