A member of the Garda has pleaded guilty to issuing forged documents for a man who admitted making false statements about members of the extended McBrearty family, the Morris Tribunal has been told.
The documents, issued by Garda John Nicholson, related to fraudulent claims for court witness expenses.
Another garda, Sgt John White, was also questioned about the payments and the making of the false statements.
He refused to answer the questions and has been off duty on sick leave since March 24th, 2000. Two weeks ago he appeared in court in connection with a separate incident, the alleged possession of a firearm at a Travellers camp in Burnfoot, Co Donegal, which also forms part of the terms of reference of the Morris Tribunal. He has denied all wrong-doing.
Mr Bernard Conlon, an unemployed man from Sligo, was convicted of making false statements to gardaí earlier this year. The tribunal heard he was paid £1,443.60 in witness expenses for attending various courts in Co Donegal in connection with the prosecution of Mr Frank McBrearty snr for breaches of the licensing laws.
Mr Conlon had been present in Frankie's nightclub drinking after hours, and had agreed to give evidence about it.
However, he was later involved in making false accusations against Mr Mark McConnell, a nephew of Mr McBrearty, and Mr Michael Peoples, who was a relative of Mr McConnell's wife, saying they had attempted to intimidate him with a "silver bullet" at his home in Sligo.
The tribunal heard that Mr Conlon made numerous court appearances in connection with the licensing prosecution during 1998. In the middle of the adjourned hearings of this case, he made an allegation that came to be known as "the silver bullet incident", Mr Paul McDermott SC, counsel for the tribunal, said.
He claimed that on July 20th two men came to his door late at night. One of them asked: "Are you the informer Conlon?" referring to his presence in court. He produced a silver-coloured bullet and said "there was one for me and one for White".
His flat-mate called the Sligo gardaí, and he made a statement to them. He later attended court and identified Mr McConnell and Mr Peoples as the men who had come to his door.
However, the DPP found his account incredible and recommended that no prosecutions be brought. Mr Conlon later admitted that the incident never happened, and claimed that Sgt White had asked him to make it up.
He was paid several amounts of £100 and £200 by Sgt White, he said, and also claimed almost £1,500 in witness expenses for attending court, including £663.50 in loss of earnings, based on forged statements claiming he had been working. These were forwarded by Garda Nicholson of Sligo station to Sgt White.
Garda Nicholson admitted charges of uttering forged documents in Riverstown District Court, Co Sligo, last July, and received the benefit of the Probation Act, which meant that no conviction was recorded against him. He has since retired from the Garda.
A request by the McBrearty family to broaden the terms of reference of the tribunal has been discussed with the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, by three Fianna Fáil TDs.
The TDs from Donegal North East and South West commented later that the issue was "clearly a matter for the tribunal". They are the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Mary Coughlan, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, and Ms Cecilia Keaveney .