Detective shocked when informant's name disclosed

A detective sergeant accused of planting a firearm near a Travellers' encampment eight years ago has said he felt violently sick…

A detective sergeant accused of planting a firearm near a Travellers' encampment eight years ago has said he felt violently sick when he discovered the name of an informant had been disclosed when the book of evidence was served on him.

Det Sgt John White (50), Dreenan, Ballybofey, Co Donegal, took the stand on the 13th day of the trial to deny charges of unlawful possession of a firearm.

The informant's name was included in a statement from Det Garda Thomas Kilcoyne, who said he was with Det Sgt White at the encampment near the Donegal-Derry border in May 1998.

"I was so shocked I was almost violently sick in the hotel," Det Sgt White said. Naming the informant "was in effect signing his death warrant" and when he saw it, he immediately contacted his superiors about the security risk.

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Det Sgt White said he was contacted by his source in early February 1998 and told "there was another war planned".

He was assigned to work with Chief Supt (now assistant commissioner) Dermot Jennings in crime and security branch.

In May 1998 he met the source in Dublin. He also spoke to another informant identified as "Mr A" about a group of Travellers in Donegal. Mr A told him they had no connection to a spate of trailer thefts, but they had a shotgun "for defensive purposes".

Det Sgt White said Det Garda Kilcoyne was "caught out" when mobile phone records showed he (White) was 15 miles away from where Det Garda Kilcoyne had alleged he obtained the firearm.

On May 22nd, after leaving a grill in Ballybofey where he had been with Det Garda Kilcoyne, he went straight to Letterkenny, and after dark travelled north again to ensure the suspects had not moved before the planned search the next day.

On the way back from the camp, he got a call from his Dublin source and passed the information to Chief Supt Jennings. He arrived at the home of Supt Kevin Lennon at about 11.45pm and obtained warrants for the following day's search.

Shortly after 1am, Det Sgt White received "the call I'd been waiting for all day, all night" and passed the location of a stolen car to Chief Supt Jennings. The next day, he learned that two cars had been stopped on their way to Northern Ireland and arrests made.

He was "very happy and relieved that we had prevented another atrocity from taking place".

The trial continues.