Frank Shortt was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment on March 1st, 1995, after an eight-day court hearing of what came to be known as the "Rave in the Cave" case.
He also received a £10,000 fine and was obliged to pay within one year or serve a further six months. Mr Shortt, who denied the charges, was 60 when he was sentenced. The sentence resulted from the claims made by gardai in court which suggested that Mr Shortt was the proprietor of a "rave" disco at which drugs were freely available. At the time there was considerable adverse publicity about such dances and the use of the drug, ecstasy.
Apart from the sentence, Mr Shortt faced being disbarred from practising as a chartered accountant, and his family faced financial hardship. He had no previous convictions.
He was convicted on charges that he knowingly allowed the sale, supply and distribution of controlled drugs at the discos on three weekends in July 1992, and that he knowingly permitted the possession of controlled drugs found during the Garda raid on August 3rd, 1992. The maximum sentence for the offence is 14 years and an unlimited fine.
A Garda witness told the court there had been "public concern" about what was going on at The Point Inn. Gardai had expressed these concerns to Mr Shortt.
On the night of August 3rd, 1992, 60 gardai in riot helmets raided the premises. Four people were arrested. Gardai claimed a number of controlled drugs were found on the floor.
The allegations which prompted the internal investigation into Garda actions in Donegal were made by the former wife of a garda, and concerned alleged gardai activities i in the north of the county.
The allegations concern the illegal handling of drugs and explosives. As a result of inquiries, a garda was removed from his duties. He remains on leave.
These allegations do not touch on the subsequent allegations by the pub-owning family, the McBreartys in Raphoe, who claimed they were the subject of harassment by the gardai. Earlier this year the State withdrew 160 charges arising from some 20 separate cases against the McBrearty family for licensing offences.
Both sets of allegations were taken together in the major internal investigation led by Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty. The report was sent to the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) early last summer.
It is understood the DPP has recruited the services of a number of senior counsel to examine the findings of the investigation to see if there are grounds for bringing charges against gardai.
On July 26th the Garda Commissioner directed that three senior officers, including the three most senior officers in the Donegal Division, a chief superintendent and two superintendents, be transferred from the county.
The Commissioner also directed that two gardai be transferred, but the gardai have challenged the transfers and remain in the county. A Garda statement said the five transfers should not be taken as any indication of wrongdoing on the part of the officers.
Garda sources last night said it was likely that other convictions gained by gardai under investigation as part of the Donegal affair may also be challenged.