The High Court has fixed October 18th as the date for the hearing of an action for damages by Frank McBrearty jnr arising from his wrongful treatment at the hands of some gardaí in Co Donegal.
The hearing is expected to take some weeks. There has been an admission of liability by the State and the action is proceeding as an assessment of damages.
When fixing the date yesterday, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, urged the parties, between now and the end of July when the current law term ends, to continue their efforts to "narrow" the matters involved. Any agreement that could be reached between the expert witnesses before the hearing would "move the matter along".
When the case was before the court last week, Martin Giblin SC, for Mr McBrearty jnr, said the admission of liability by the State failed to address the "manufacture" by gardaí of a "confession" by his client of a crime which did not occur and which Mr McBrearty jnr did not commit - the murder of cattle dealer Richie Barron. George Birmingham SC, for the State, said the issue of the confession had yet to be examined by the Morris tribunal.